Everest – Film Review by Cormac Fitzgerald

Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur

Written by: William Nicholson; Simon Beaufoy

Starring: Jason Clarke; Jake Gyllenhaal; Kiera Knightley; Josh Brolin; John Hawkes; Naoko Mori

Everest tells the story of the real-life 1996 tragedy that occurred on the mountain when a blizzard hit while people were still climbing its peaks. A number of climbers died and the new 3-D IMAX feature recreates the arduous climb and final moments of two of the expedition groups that were up the mountain when the storm hit. With a star-studded cast and breath-taking visuals, it is a disaster movie with some moments of real beauty and brilliance – but not without its flaws.

Adventure Consultants, led by the rugged New Zealander Robert Hall (Jason Clarke), are noted at the beginning of the movie as the pioneers of commercial expeditions up Mt Everest. The movie begins with Hall and his team preparing to bring another group to the summit. At the airport he says goodbye to his wife Jan (Keira Knightley with a New Zealand accent) who is pregnant with their child, and promises to be back soon.

Not long after, we meet the rag-tag band of adventurers who have paid to climb the massive mountain. There is (among others) Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), a cocky Texan who climbs mountains to escape his everyday life; Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), an unassuming mailman who’s back a second year to try and reach the summit; and Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), a Japanese woman looking to climb the seven highest summits in each continent. Jake Gyllenhaal appears as Scott Fischer, the more eccentric leader of a rival expedition group, Mountain Madness, who are also trying to reach the summit. The two groups eventually decide to team-up to improve their chances of reaching the top.

The size of the cast proves challenging from the off, with the various mountaineers, journalists, assistants, friends and groups all vying for camera time. Once they’re suited up in protective gear and covered in snow, however, you can forget about telling much of the minor cast apart. Good performances are put in across the board, however with the sheer amount of characters it’s hard to get to know any one person past a light sketch.

And so for much of the movie they climb, and we get panning long-shots of the majestic Everest coupled with some team-bonding and drinking. The cinematography is beautiful (although it seems the same long swooping shot of Everest is used more than once) and the dialogue between characters is at times lively and at times cliché-ridden. The bulk of the movie is focused on the arduous climb, which tends to get a bit repetitive, with the sense of impending disaster always there.

When disaster finally strikes, however, the movie kicks into action and the 3-D glasses start being useful. The wild, harsh conditions of Everest are captured brilliantly alongside the bleakness of human suffering. Fierce blizzards and winds show us the awesome power of the mountain while the human tragedy and suffering that follows is dealt with in a restrained, personal manner. Climbers disappear unceremoniously into the mountain with the faintest of whispers amidst the extreme snowstorms. Under the accomplished direction of Baltasar Kormákur, the set-pieces manage to be at once edge-of-your-seat exciting as well as humanely heartfelt and touching, a feat rarely pulled off in 3-D disaster movies.

The end of the movie is harrowing to watch, with Knightley and Clark putting in emotional performances as they talk to each other over the phone as the blizzard rages on. Everest tries to cram too much into its two hour running time and drags a bit for the first half. However, accomplished set-pieces and its true story subject matter make this a humane disaster movie that won’t leave audiences cold.