"The Revenant" | MOVIE REVIEW

Just a side note before I get into this review - this movie is rated R-16 where I'm from (which means you can't watch it if you aren't 16 or older), and the security guard at the auditorium asked how old I was. It made me feel young again, which was nice. Now, to the review!

So, The Revenant is a Western(ish) survival film directed by Alejandro Gonzales Iñarríttu and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, and Domhnall Gleeson and is one of the most intense cinematic experiences I can say I've ever had. I mean, when you watch someone get mauled by a 700-plus pound Grizzly bear, you'd want that person to live.

Underneath that fluffy and cuddly exterior is a monster waiting to kill you.

And when I say that this movie is intense, I really do mean that this movie is intense. I mean, it was already cols in the theater, but the movie made everything around me feel a lot colder. And that was perhaps the movie's strongest suit - I mean, when a movie creates an atmosphere within the theater that makes you reluctant to even blink, you know it's doing something right.

As far as the film's plot goes, it's pretty straightforward, but it's also one of those plots that I can't discuss in detail without giving away too many spoilers. So, here's the most broken-down, spoiler-free version of the plot I can give - Leonardo DiCaprio and Domhnall Gleeson’s crew of fur traders get attacked by Natives, and, while escaping, Leo gets attacked by a bear and s**t hits the fan, and now he has to survive.

It goes a lot deeper than that, but I try my best to adhere to a no-spoiler policy here on the Deep Fry (unless the movie sucks), so, yeah. That's all you'll be getting from me.

Moving on, the performances in this movie were all brilliant. Everyone in the cast was great - so great, in fact, I can't think of anyone in it I'd consider a weak link. Everybody was just that solid. Whether or not Leo does get an Oscar for his troubles shouldn't matter - what does is that he put in one hell of a performance.

The lengths to which this man goes to entertain us - you gotta admire his passion.

Tom Hardy was really great, too. His character was an asshole, and he managed to pull off a really convincing asshole. If his character doesn't make you question the human race, then you clearly have either a) not seen the movie, or b) haven't been paying attention at all. From the start to the end, you, the viewer, has this particular distrust for his character. When a character makes me feel that way, I just have to laud the actor behind him. He was kinda like Boromir, except without any redeeming qualities.

Being in my third year of my mass media course program in college has opened my eyes towards the more technical side of the filmmaking world. As such, I've learned how to appreciate cinematography, and holy balls was the cinematography in The Revenant good. You have all these really gripping one-take shots when all the action's going down and in between those you have a bunch of really pretty fillers and the whole movie pretty much feels like a moving picture.

Just look at this!

Usually, I'm not the biggest fan of artsy movies, but The Revenant is a different kind of artsy. I'm just saying.

And this!

Overall, The Revenant was a pretty great movie and an even better cinematic experience. It's one of those things you watch that makes you feel bad for eating popcorn - especially because you're watching a dude get mauled by a f*cking Grizzly bear. It was gritty, it was gripping, it was most certainly brutal, and, ultimately, The Revenant is deserving of a Morgan Freeman Thumbs-Up.

I don't think I could think of a better way to kill 3 hours.

What about you guys, my loving readers - have you seen The Revenant? If you have, what did you think about it? And, if you haven't - what's the most intense survival movie you've ever seen? Leave a comment, let me know! And, also, if you have a Twitter account, feel free to follow the blog at @thegalacticdf. This has been Rafa, and I'll catch you when I can.