You Do Not Have To Shoot Him Now..."The Revenant"

The Revenant (2015)

Rated R

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, A Very Angry Bear

Directed by Alejandro D. Inarritu

The Story:

Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) is a scout for a fur expedition in the wild American frontier of the 1820s. After leading the group away from an Indian attack, Glass is attacked and brutally mauled by a bear. As they are trying to outrun the Indians that want them all dead, Glass is simply slowing them down.  They leave a few behind including John Fitzgerald (Hardy) to care for him. Bad idea. Fitzgerald wants to leave Glass high and dry. Now Glass has to survive his wounds, the weather, escape the Indians and find Fitzgerald and kill him!

Naturally you have to mention that his was inspired by true events.

How much, and what exactly was true, well that's a mystery lost to the ages.

But Glass was a real guy, and he was attacked by a bear and lived.

Other than that, feel free to take creative license and do what you will with the story.

That DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for this role is odd to say the least.

For the first half of the movie, he barely has any dialogue at all.

Then the last half, well he has a reason not to talk, but still.

It seems like anyone could have the role of trying to survive and seek vengeance. I'm not so sure what was so special about DiCaprio's performance in this film that finally pushed him over the edge with voters.

Matt Damon in The Martian or Bryan Cranston in Trumbo (review coming soon!) were much more watchable and entertaining in their roles than DiCaprio.

Of course, that's not the only example of actors to have lost that deserved to win (those reviews still to come as well!)

And seriously, what was with all the actors breathing heavily onto the camera?

We get it, it's cold out there.

Seems like amateurish filmmaking more than symbolic or anything else.

The good part, with the majority of the film being dialogue free, I was able to Fast Forward through much of the 2 1/2 hour (!!! seriously ?!? !!!) runtime to get to the scenes where things actually happened or people actually spoke.

It's a fine, watchable movie, but Best of the Year or Most Entertaining?

Not even close.

Final Grade: C

Houston, We Have Another Problem... "The Martian"

The Martian (2015)

Rated PG-13

Starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Michael Pena, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover,

Directed by Ridley Scott

The Story:

During the latest manned mission to Mars, a violent storm forces an early evacuation by the crew. During the storm, Astronaut Mark Watney (Damon) is struck by debris and assumed dead when the captain (Chastain) is unable to locate him. They leave the planet and head home to Earth. However, Mark's death is slightly exaggerated and he recovers and finds himself alone on Mars. He must find a way to survive, make contact with NASA, and wait and hope for his eventual rescue with the next planned return to Mars in a few years!

The fun part about coming to review these movies so late in the game is that much of the furor has died down. "Greatest movie ever!" "It sucked!" All those varying opinions are out there, and I just brush them aside and figure out if I liked the movie or not. 

And I quite enjoyed it!

I will mention that this one is nearly 2 1/2 hours long, but it's one where it doesn't feel like it, so that's always a plus.

If you're going for distance, make that time spent on the movie an enjoyable one.

Ridley Scott directs a stellar (no pun intended) cast who all provide outstanding support to Damon.

Damon, however, does the bulk of the heavy lifting as he has to be the center of the movie, acting and reacting to dire situations as they arise during his stay on Mars.

That said, though this is essentially a drama, there is enough humor and levity both on Earth and Mars, that you keep smiling and laughing even as you're on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next and will they get to him in time.

Because quite frankly, if they don't rescue Watley, you're going to feel angry and upset when the film is over.

But, at least you know they tried.

It's quite the enjoyable ride, and if you haven't seen it yet, you're likely in for a great experience when you get around to watching it.

Or, you'll hate it.

:)

Final Grade:  B+