The Revenant, a movie full of epic fights for survival against Native Americans, bears, and enemies, is set on the frontier during the period of exploration. It shows the trials of explorers as they try to get home after a pelt expedition went wrong.
With the danger of the wilderness surrounding them, French and Native Americans explorers face a treacherous journey home. When the main character Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) gets separated from his men who left him injured and for dead and loses his son, he makes his way back to civilization to exact his revenge upon the man that wronged him: John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), and the boy who left him Bridger (Will Poulter).
The story of man braving wilderness has been written before, yet never has it been this exceptional. Hugh Glass was an actual frontiersman mauled by a bear, and the movie is based on his struggle for survival after he was left for dead. This is the second retelling, the first being Man in the Wilderness. The cast demonstrate an entirely captivating performance all around, with DiCaprio’s portrayal of Glass especially leaving every person on the edge of there seat. The entire theater gasped between holding their breaths through the twists and turns of his trek back to civilization.
There was a level of gruesomeness in the fight and action scenes of the movie some viewers will leave finding to be truly chilling, as it showed the gruesome reality of what could have occurred on the frontier. Burns, arrow wounds, even broken limbs marked the struggles Glass and others face in the harsh setting.
The movie also expressed the variety of conflicts within the frontier. It expressed the controversies of racism, survival, societal norms, and of course the conflict among the Native Americans and the settlers. There was a lot of conflict between the French and the Americans that is only seen through the interaction with the Native Americans, as the French ally with the Native Americans. The main character not only struggles against the Natives, but also against time as he is left in the wilderness alone with his injuries and against nature as it berates him with more issues to worry about.
I was on the edge of my own seat throughout this movie, and I don’t remember blinking through one intense moment of it. I thought it was put together incredibly and the story was of legendary status. As blood and sweat flew in every scene I continued to watch, rooting for the protagonist every second of it.
9/10
Nicholas Ocasio // Staff Writer
