For the limited number of people who have reached the peak of Mount Everest, it must be quite an accomplishment to put on their mantle. Yet, I don’t care how much you beg or pay me, I will not set foot on that journey. There are moments in life when we all look at something and say: Nope! That’s not happening! I like my life; I think I’ll hold onto it for now. Did “Everest” manage to change my mind or reaffirm my fears?
Based on events that occurred in 1996, the film adaptation focuses on a group of wealthy climbers [Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Naoko Mori and Michael Kelly] that embark on a perilous journey up the slopes of Mt. Everest, led by expedition leader Rob Hall [Jason Clarke].
All goes well until a massive storm looms on the horizon. Stuck in an area where rescue is next to impossible, the crew try their best to survive the worst night of their lives.
Taking a page out of the disaster movie tradition, “Everest” is filled with an all-star cast.
The names above are merely a sampler of what you’re going to get; Robin Wright, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington and Emma Watson all make appearances throughout.
With such an impressive ensemble, a few good performances are bound to come out of it. Just like “Black Mass,” nobody delivers a bad performance as they all give the necessary minimum, which is one of Everest’s largest problems. The characters are so interchangeable that after a while, it’s easy to forget that they are there to begin with.
Director Baltasar Kormákur got phenomenal actors to take on these roles, but none of them stick out in any way.
It’s a shame because the thrills would be that much better if we cared for them as individuals instead of just actors. “The Poseidon Adventure” is a great example of a disaster film that gave every name actor their chance to shine. If one of them were to perish, we would feel for them, an element that’s sorely lacking here.
Character doesn’t play an important role in this film, but what it does excel at, however, are the visuals. As they were trailing the snow mountain of death, I never thought that they were anywhere else. As the snow constantly blows in your face, it’s easy to feel as if you’re up there with them.
A tense sequence early on with Josh Brolin walking across a ladder had me glued to my seat,
Brendan Goodwin / Equinox Staff
not knowing whether or not he would fall into the bottomless chasm. Sadly, after this sequence, that same sense of tension never comes back. When the storm finally hits, the wintery cinematography is great to look at, but since all the characters aside from Jason Clarke weren’t built up enough, I rarely found myself on the edge of my seat. The effects were convincing, but without the human element, they virtually have no meaning.
“Everest” suffers from the same problems as “Black Mass,” where the cinematography is beautiful, but the performances leave more to be desired. It’s a standard survival flick that happens to have big names attached to it.
The theater setting didn’t help enhance the experience because the 3D was useless and added little to the visual pop of the snowy landscape.
It also added another layer between my eyes and the screen, equaling out to a darker picture. Since it didn’t wow me on the silver screen, imagine how well it won’t hold up on Blu-ray.
I haven’t read the book that the adaptation is based off of, but I feel that its characters will probably have more detail than what’s seen in the film adaptation.
Rating: C+
Matt Bilodeau can be contacted at mbilodeau@kscequinox.com
