STACK January 2016 Issue 135

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ALSO SCREENING
IN JANUARY
Quentin Tarantino's latest strands the titular
number of rogues in a snowbound cabin for the
usual talkfest punctuated by moments of graphic
violence. Ever the old school purist, QT has shot
The Hateful Eight on film in glorious 70mm, so it
should look magnificent. We highly recommend
that you see it in the director's preferred
widescreen format in selected cinemas prior to
its wide release on Jan 21.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT
The 1991 Keanu/Swayze action favourite has
been reimagined with Luke Bracey and Edgar
Ramirez as FBI agent and heister, respectively.
Surf's up on Jan 1
POINT BREAK
The first film adaptation in a new Young Adult
trilogy based on the books by Rick Yancey. Set
in a post-apocalypse world (of course) in the
aftermath of an alien invasion, Chloë Grace
Moretz plays the 16-year-old survivor we're all
meant to root for. Jan 14.
THE 5TH WAVE
Jack Black headlines this live-action feature based
on author R.L. Stine's creepy best-sellers for kids.
A meta-movie of sorts, the books' most frightening
creatures are unleashed on Jan 14.
GOOSEBUMPS
Arriving with the reputation of being one
of the most gruelling shoots in cinema
history, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's bleak and
beautiful frontier survival story is far removed
from his theatre-set Oscar-winner Birdman
and the fractured narratives of his Mexican
productions, but no less technically astounding.
In moving to Hollywood, Iñárritu hasn't sold out
to the mainstream; filming in long unbroken
takes and using only natural light and remote
locations, he achieves the sense of verisimilitude
and immediacy that has been his forte since
Amores Perros. Putting his cast through an
arduous experience both on screen and behind
the scenes also helps, and the film is likely to be
showered with nominations come Oscar time.
Set in 1823 in the harsh frozen wilderness
of the Rocky Mountains, Leonardo DiCaprio
plays Hugh Glass, a fur trapper who is viciously
mauled by a bear (not raped, as risible rumours
suggested) and left in the company of his
half-Pawnee son and a surly mountain man,
Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy). When Fitzgerald murders
Glass's son and leaves the wounded man for
dead, Glass's survival instincts kick in. He's
harder to kill than Jason Vorhees and begins an
endurance-testing journey across a forbidding
landscape to seek revenge – a dish that is best
served cold, after all.
A dramatisation of actual events (documented
in Michael Punke's novel of the same name),
The Revenant shares the same DNA as '70s
adventures Jeremiah Johnson and Man in the
Wilderness, albeit resequenced by Iñárritu's
aforementioned technical virtuoso and grand
vision. The initial bear attack is extreme (and
features the screen's first truly convincing use
of ursine CGI) and sets the tone for a long and
harrowing slog. However, you're more likely
to find yourself admiring the scenery and the
filmmaking prowess than sharing Leo's anguish,
pain and exhaustion.
The usually one-note DiCaprio is good here,
although his performance is limited to grunts,
gestures and vengeful stares when he's not
cauterising a throat wound with gunpowder,
chowing down on raw buffalo, or slipping into a
gutted horse to stay warm (a la Luke Skywalker).
Ignore the occasional segue into mysticism
and allusions to revenge as a force of nature,
and enjoy The Revenant as a sensory experience
and a primal throwback to old school, Old West
wilderness adventures. Scott Hocking
FURTHER VIEWING: The Hateful Eight
Man in the wilderness.
THE REVENANT RELEASED: Jan 7
DIRECTOR: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
CAST: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom
Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson
RATING: MA15+
visit CINEMA REVIEWS
22 JANUARY 2016
CINEMA