“Our bodies will be literally dying.”
If Everest is now a “pushover” mountain to climb, I want absolutely nothing to do with the “super-difficult” ones. Back in the ’90’s, anyone who considered themselves an avid mountain climber made it an appointment to climb big bad Mount Everest. People from every point in the world converge in Nepal to take it on in an effort to reach the summit.
In 1996, experienced expedition leaders Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), and Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) are in charge of getting their respective groups to the peak. Their respective groups include a woman, Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), who is tackling Everest to successfully say she has climbed all seven world summits, Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), just a man who loves climbing, and Doug (John Hawkes), who desperately wants to get to the top after failing two previous times. Like any journey to the top of anything, the road can be fraught with peril, but sometimes, coming down is worse than going up. The last word always belongs to the mountain.
Should a movie be defined by how it is shown? Everest would appear to think yes. With its opening week release in no other format expect IMAX and/or 3D, it is clear that the powers that be at Universal are making a statement, one that says that the best way to see the movie is in the biggest way possible. Much like the style-but-iffy-substance of Gravity (a poor man’s version of that movie, but yours truly’s opinion), Everest is best experienced with all of the frills, bells, and whistles.
In 3D, Everest is stunning. But, don’t get the idea that it is deployed throughout. For the first 30-40 minutes, it is somewhat useless. Once the real climbing trek begins is when the benefit of watching 3D kicks in. There are some awesome second-half sequences, directed by Baltasar Kormakur (2 Guns, Contraband, that show the sheer size of the expedition, and the beast that is Mt. Everest. These all do give the viewer the feel of being on the mountain with the climbers.
When watching Everest, the amount of characters present does make it hard to keep up with everyone. With every character bundled to the brim with North Face, snow boots, and sunglasses, most end up being indistinguishable from one another. As a result, the stacked cast makes one see the actors and actresses themselves instead of the characters they are trying to portray. Character-wise, it is difficult to get a beat on them, outside of Rob Hall and maybe Beck Weathers, portrayed by Jason Clarke and Josh Brolin, respectively.
Clarke, especially in the second half, is impressive in his performance once the surroundings become insurmountable. Brolin initially seems like a grating and throwaway character (I knew little about this event), but is revealed to have a little bit more depth as things move on. Gyllenhaal, Martin Henderson, Michael Kelly, Keira Knightley, Robin Clarke, and John Hawkes are fine with what they have, it is just challenging to care for any of them.
Sure, one could lambast Everest for cashing in on a grim event, but it isn’t as if film has never done this before. And, there is real respect that is given to honor those who did perish in the disaster. Everest works enough primarily because though the characters might be bland and tough to connect with, their harrowing situation isn’t, all the more realized in 3D.
Grade: C+
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MMJ 
Good review dude, I’m growing more and more concerned about the way the characters fare in this film (and not in terms of life vs death, I read Krakeur’s ‘Into Thin Air’ awhile ago so I have a good idea of who makes it and who doesn’t) and how much screen time Krakeur himself will have. I believe that’s Michael Kelly’s part, right? For this movie to work for me, I want it to be told form his POV but I’m gathering it is more from the perspectives of the team leaders, Rob Hall and Scott Fischer. Which I guess could work, too, but the whole heartbreak of this expedition was seeing it from the author’s POV and knowing he couldn’t do anything about what was happening. Such a tragic day on this mountain.
Appreciate it Tom. I kept this one kind of brief.
Krakeur is Kelly, and he has little time here, and you’re right that the perspective’s are ultimately from Hall and Fischer’s, if that. Only Hall and Weathers have somewhat of a character, but even they are thinly sketched. Most everyone honestly blends into one another.
If you watch with just a disaster movie mindset, you can enjoy. But, there is more of a story that could be told, and that is disappointing.
Again.. we agree!! enough said! 😀
I applaud Working Title for breaking new ground and not sticking to the ‘Into Thin Air’ version of the 1996 Everest tragedy, which is maybe why this book is not in this film’s Credits, something that has not gone unnoticed by some professional reviewers.
Working Title/the Director referred to Jon Krakauer as ‘a writer who just happened to be on the mountain at the time’. To learn more about what actually caused this seminal event you will need to read ‘A Day to Die For’ and ‘After the Wind’. Well done Working Title and Baltasar Kormakur for daring to break the mold!
Nice review! This movie prompted me to read up on the events of the 1996 disaster, and that always means it’s worth something. Not sure about how Krakauer is portrayed, I’ll have to read his book on his experience.
I like your blog 🙂
Thanks for coming over and reading! I feel like a good biography makes one want to read more about the real life situation, even if it is just on Wikipedia!
Looking forward to your thoughts on features 🙂