THE REVENANT - review

THE REVENANT
Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck

Synopsis: Inspired by true events, THE REVENANT captures one man's epic adventure of survival and the extraordinary power of the human spirit. In an expedition of the uncharted American wilderness, legendary explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) is brutally attacked by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. In a quest to survive, Glass endures unimaginable grief as well as the betrayal of his confidant John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). Guided by sheer will and the love of his family, Glass must navigate a vicious winter in a relentless pursuit to live and find redemption.

Doesn't that synopsis sound like you might actually want to see the film? I thought so. That coupled with it's wins at the Globes, I took myself off with my man to go and catch this much talked about film. Silly me, I should have known better than to listen to all the hype, but the trailer looked like it might be ok and I was pleased for Leo in his Globe win for Best Actor, and was excited to be seeing yet another Academy nominated Best Picture film. Well, let me just tell you that I felt every single second of the 2 hours and 36 minutes that this film runs for. Every. Single. Second. When I looked at the time and realised that we'd only been in there for 30 minutes and still had another 2 hours to go I nearly cried.

Upon speaking to others who had seen the film, I discovered that people were really divided. They either loved or hated it. There was no one who was like "meh, it was ok". Well, let me tell you which side of the fence I was on...I hated it. Every. Single. Second. I appreciate that the story was inspired by true events, but it was so far from believable that I couldn't get involved in the story at all. All I could do was internalise how impossible it was, how ridiculous it was, how highly improbable it was that Glass didn't die at least 75 times in the first 30 minutes.

To me this film was a vehicle to finally get DiCaprio an Oscar, and by God I think they may have done it. He was incredible in the film, but honestly there are only so many close ups of Leo being pained that I can endure.

The direction of the film was really well done, but in my honest opinion the film was at least an hour too long. Some drawn out, slow moving scenes of nothing could have easily been left on the cutting room floor and no one would have been any the wiser. I probably would still have hated every single second, but there would have been less of them for me to hate. Knowing that this film has received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and CAROL didn't makes me all the more angry about it.

The film was gratuitously violent, which I normally can stomach, but there was plenty in there that I had to half cover my eyes for, so be warned. If you have a weak stomach then THE REVENANT is not for you. Bear attacks, scalpings, wound cauterising by gunpowder and fire, stabbings, rape, horse skinnings and the like, you need to steel yourself for this one.

Glass carrying his son to safety

Image via Fox Studios

The driving force behind Glass' survival is his love for his son and then his desire for revenge to hunt down and kill the man who murdered his son, John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). I imagine that is a pretty powerful emotion, but there is part of me that wonders how close to the truth this film is what actually happened. How much of an interpretation have they made of this story? How did he not die the 75 times he should have? I don't know, and frankly even though I could google it and find out, I honestly hated it so much that I don't even care.

I think that there will be no surprises when DiCaprio wins the Oscar for Best Actor and Alejandro González Iñárritu wins for Best Director and THE REVENANT wins for Best Picture, but I honestly don't think it should win. Leo deserves to win, but THE REVENANT sucked and I hated it and I don't want it to win, so that means it probably will. Ugh. If I was you, I would save the 20-something dollars and not bother going to see this film at the cinema. It's nearly 3 hours of your life that you won't get back.

2 out of 5

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD - review

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Director: George Miller

Cast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne

OK, so I'm going to just come right out and say it. I didn't love MAD MAX: FURY ROAD. *pause for gasps of shock and disapproval*  That's right, I said it. Controversial isn't it? Someone even called me un-Australian. I'm pretty sure I'm the only person out there who didn't love it. The first time I saw it, I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was about it that I didn't love. So, I wanted a week and saw it again, but I still felt the same. So I waited another week, read some reviews, spoke to some people and waited for my feelings about it to change. They didn't and I'm still not 100% sure why that is. 

In a start desert landscape where hunamity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland. 

the chase to bring Furiosa home begins

IMDB makes it sound good right? The trailer looks awesome right? The review are incredible right? Right. All of those things are right. I grew up knowing Mad Max, I loved MAD MAX and back thn I even loved Mel Gibson, I was so excited that George Miller was back with another installment of the franchise. I, like most other people, could not wait until FURY ROAD hit the big screen. Everyone was raving about it, I was buzzing with anticipation. It was clear the rest of western Melbourne was too, because it took me three goes to get into a session at my local cinema. I was so ready, so imagine my surprise when at the end of two hours, I wasn't really sure how I felt or why I couldn't just be like everyone else around me, raving like a lunatic about how awesome it was. 

I saw how great everything was - the casting, the directing, the narrative, the character arcs, the set, the costuming, the special effects. I saw all of that and I loved it. Miller has done an amazing job. Within about 3 minutes, we're in the middle of an intense high speed chase, there's dust storms, explosions and flashbacks to help cast our minds back to why Max is mad. It's glorious, it really is. I have no doubt in my mind that this films is going to bring about some major nominations buzz when the time comes. 

look at that - it's marvellous

So why? Why didn't I like it? Nay, why didn't I love it. I should have loved it. Everything was so on point, I just should have loved it. Upon reflection here's a four things I can come up with that have maybe impacted how I feel about MAD MAX: FURY ROAD; 

1) the hype - there was so much hype, maybe part of me couldn't help but wonder if it lived up to it

2) the goodness - maybe I wanted it to be a little bit less Hollywood blockbuster, and more grungy Australian film

3) the length - some of the chase scenes, although amazing to look out were drawn out - I would have left a bit more on the cutting room floor I think

4) Furiosa - raved about as an incredible feminist heroine, which she was, but in the end men did a bunch of the dirty grunt work, and made the final decision about where to go and what to do next. 

I wouldn't recomend running right out to see it, although because I've taken so long to write my review, you proably already have. I am probably glad that I didn't spend the 20-something dollars on it, although, I would say that it's almost worth it just for the SFX which are bloody phenomenal. Watch it, see what all the fuss is about. I'm not sorry I saw it, I maybe am sorry that I saw it twice though, I should have trusted my gut the first time round. 

2.5 out of 5

xoxo

The Blonde Bombshell