The Revenant

DB
2 hours ago
2 min read

Looks aren't everything, but they can really, really help sometimes.

Here's what I've been watching and playing over the last seven days...

MOVIES

The Revenant

Movie summary: A frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team. (IMDb)

This is the film Leo finally got his Oscar for, and you can really tell in this film just how hard he was trying with his capital-A Acting in this film.

Sorry Leo, but Tom Hardy gives easily the best performance in this movie and was far more interesting to watch even if his character, Fitzgerald, is utterly despicable.

A word also for Domhnall Gleeson's range as a pleasant surprise for me having seen him only as very insecure, if not outright cowardly, men before this showing.

I think my biggest disappointment with The Revenant is that it really is just a simple revenge story, just in a more unique setting than you'd see in something like a summer blockbuster.

Unfortunately, it does mean that the movie feels a little overly-serious at times considering just how simple the story is.

It isn't helped by being far longer than necessary, with plenty that could've been cut without losing anything of value and maybe helped quicken the pace of the plot and maybe make things a little more exciting.

On the other side of things, The Revenant is an absolutely gorgeous film and almost justifies the running time with some of the incredible scenery on display - watch this in as high definition as possible.

I don't think The Revenant is a poor film, but it was somewhat underwhelming given all the praise it's received - I'm happy to have watched it, especially for how great it looks, but am not bothered if I ever see it again. [6/10]

GAMES

Baldur's Gate 3

My 'Sith' story is progressing nicely, including becoming closer to Lae'zel, although I'm not too sure she's going to like where my character is headed...

Heaven's Vault

I think I'm fairly close to the end now and - even though it's not quite as exciting to play as the first time, when every discovery was new - I'm still going to miss Aliya Elasra when it's all over.

Hitman: World of Assassination

Working my way through the Hitman 2 campaign now and still finding new ways to complete missions that I've beaten half a dozen times before.

Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020)

As I've been keeping to flying in the UK, the sunny weather made for some very uninteresting flights, although I did have an absolutely awe-inspiring flight through the clouds this morning.

I know it's technically nature at work, but this game is half a decade old and still mind-blowingly gorgeous.

TV

Frasier, Seasons Three-Five

Yeah, this show is still pretty great even with the occasional face-palming faults like some terrible English accents and Martin's choice of girlfriend in Sherry.