The first trailer for Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s The Revenant is out and, the world a titter with delight. After last year’s sweeping success of Birdman, the revered director has broken his “only every 3-4 years” work habit and found himself creating what could very well be Leonardo DiCaprio’s first Oscar winning role. Starring DiCaprio as famous explorer Hugh Glass, the first look gave us a lot to ponder. Explosions! Wilderness! Tom Hardy! Oh my! What can we expect from this new venture?
From what we know, the movie will be based on the real life events of Glass, who was mauled by a grizzly bear during a fur trapping expedition and left for dead by his comrades. The story details Glass’ journey through Missouri as he inches towards death. Really this is Leo’s time to shine. If life events are any indication of what we should expect, he’ll be acting alone for a good portion of the movie. We’ve seen good things from actors of the same caliber when they have similar opportunities, so unless he squanders the chance (which, c’mon of course he won’t) he’s bound for at least a nod from the Academy.
The main thing we can take away from what we’ve been given so far is the sheer obstacles Glass will have to face in order to survive. Mountains, sickness, winter, starvation, all parts of wandering aimlessly through the wilderness after being left for dead. I don’t want to put too much emphasis on anything just yet; trailers tend to skew storylines in order to captivate the audience, especially during the initial release of a freshly cut trailer. However, if Iñárritu was able to resurrect the career of famously hard to work with Michael Keaton, what’s to stop him from another truly magnificent piece of art with a culturally relevant cast?
I have to say the intense score definitely drew me in. The trailer was a little under two and half minutes long, yet we reach the crescendo of this native feeling score before the credits drop. I appreciated the point of view camera angles paired with the wide lens scopes of wilderness. There’s this magical element that tends to come hand in hand with the romanticized “wild west” of old America, an idea that’s definitely cultivated by Iñárritu’s creative genius. What I’m trying to say is there’s a lot to be excited about, so go ahead and bask in delight with the rest of the world.
The Revenant opens with a limited release on Christmas day, and will receive a nation wide release later in January 2016.
