No Oscar Theater: The Revenant (2009)

Sorry- you only hate human blood, so no Oscar!  Today's Film is The Revenant, the 2009 Horror-Action-Comedy that shares the same name with Leo DiCaprio's film.  I wonder if this has gotten a Redbox push in order to confuse people.  Unlike the long, detail-oriented Film by the Director of Babel, this one is about an actual Revenant.  Yes, that's not *actually* a real thing- as far as I know- but you get the idea.  In this Film, a man is killed in Iraq and awakens some time later.  He's not the same anymore- he has to feed!  With the help of his not-so-helpful friend, he tries to make it in his new 'life' and finally be somebody.  Somewhere along the line, things go awry.  I know- I was expecting everything to work out!  This Film is noticeably-shorted than Innaritu's Film and features far less grunting.  Is it any good though?  To find out, read on...

In Iraq, a Soldier (David Anders) is killed.  Shocking- I heard that we won that thing back in 2003!

A few weeks later, he rises from the dead.  This is not the kind of surprise you want at 3 in the morning.

 

Our Hero eventually learns the truth.  I don't think he wants to kill Tom Hardy though.

To be fair, he was in Star Trek: Nemesis though.

Unable to turn evil and start killing people, our Hero is 'lucky' enough to constantly be assailed by people allowing him to kill in self-defense.

He has worse luck than anyone related to Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson in a Film combined!

Can true love survive if one of you is a corpse?  I feel like I've had to ask this question a few too many times by now...

 Trying to combine his need to survive and his need to help, our hero decides to fight crime...and drink human blood.  Worked for Nick Knight!

Things take a dark turn as the Film reaches its Third Act.  Yes, darker than a Revenant going around and killing people for sustenance (and blow).

With all that happens, can our Hero find peace and happiness?  To find out, watch the Film.

Odd stuff all around.  The Film is certainly an odd mix of Horror, Action and Comedy.  The subject matter is certainly not conducive to Comedy- that's for sure!  Without SPOILing too much, the Tone kind of falls apart in the Third Act.  The whole thing almost feels like someone took over.  On top of that, a major Plot Thread is raised and then dropped.  When the Film nears its End, it appears that someone else came in and tied it back up...mostly.  Mind you, I know that nobody else was involved.  You see, the Film has the same Director, Writer and Producer- plus he was also in charge of the VFX.  Do I have to say this again?  Alright.  You are not all Orson Welles!  He could do it- you can't inherently do it!  I'm not condemning the whole Film, mind you.  There are some fun and interesting ideas here.  The problem is that the Tone and content veer and vary so much that it is hard to keep track.  Key Characters drop in and out of the Film for long stretches.  Time is relative too, as major events take place over a seemingly-long period of time that isn't adequately-explained.  I'm not going to say that I didn't like it- just that I was let down a little by the end.  I should also mention that the Film clocks in at just under 2 hours, so it is not *much* shorter than the 2015 Film.  Would it have been better if our Hero slept inside of a Horse for warmth?  Ultimately, the Film was kind of a mixed bag for me.  It did, however, leave me with this confusing chiron joke...

Next up, some Mexican Horror to spice things up.  Did that terrible pun just now make me as bad as Donald Trump to them?  Stay tuned...