Everest (C) Movie Review
Everest is the dramatic true story of a 1996 climbing expedition on Mt. Everest that's devastated by a destructive and powerful snowstorm while the climbers are still on the mountain.
Everest opened the Venice Film Festival in 2015, a prestigious honor. And it stars a "mountain" of famous stars such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, and Sam Worthington. It has to be good right?
I was disappointed with Everest. It's hard to not expect a lot with this acting talent involved but the man behind the camera, Baltasar Kormakur, doesn't have the greatest track record. Kormakur was the man behind 2 Guns, the Mark Wahlburg and Denzel Washington action film that received mixed responses from critics and he was also the man behind Contraband, another Mark Wahlburg action film that received mixed responses from critics. And Kormakur's direction is lacking a little bit. So rarely in Everest is there a genuinely nail-biting scene and with Everest's budget and storyline, those should be common.
The film also suffers from extreme pacing issues. The first third of this film, I'm going to estimate, is almost alienating in its determination to fit as much exposition as it possibly can before the story and thrills must kick in. There is virtually no conflict or tension until the group of climbers is leaving the summit.
But when the storm hits, the film is immediately more watchable, if never quite thrilling. There are a couple genuine, heart-tugging scenes and a few perilous situations that feel intense, if never edge-of-your-seat. This failure of edge-of-your-seat thrills is due to generic characterization of about every character that it makes it almost impossible for you to care for any of them. It's not that there's too little character development (there's more than enough), it's just that these characters are not interesting. Jake Gyllenhaal, who proves time and time again he's one of the best actors working today, is reduced to the "cool guy" who "just wants to have a good time" and says "bro" at the end of every other sentence.
There's one exception to this generic quality that pervades our characters and that's John Hawkes' character, Doug. He's a regular guy who wants to prove to his students back home that regular people can accomplish the most impossible of dreams. And I think most will be pretty invested with his character! It's a shame he's the only one.
I won't deny that I frequently got caught up in these characters' plights. It'd be difficult not to because the original story is such an interesting one. And the performances are excellent. There's some particularly minor but strong supporting work from Keira Knightley and our main actor, Jason Clarke, is excellent.
There's also some beautiful and dizzying cinematography going on here. The whole film looks wonderful. Salvatore Totino, cinematographer of Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and Frost/Nixon handles the presumably difficult task of shooting this film very well and the film itself looks crisp, clean, and best of all, freezing cold.
Everest isn't a bad film but it's not a very well made one either. The last half is intense, entertaining, occasionally emotionally affecting, and miles better than the overstuffed, humdrum first half. But it's too bad that the film was weighed down by a poor, pacing-troubled script and some pretty banal characters.
FINAL GRADE: C
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense peril and disturbing images
Everest opened the Venice Film Festival in 2015, a prestigious honor. And it stars a "mountain" of famous stars such as Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, and Sam Worthington. It has to be good right?
I was disappointed with Everest. It's hard to not expect a lot with this acting talent involved but the man behind the camera, Baltasar Kormakur, doesn't have the greatest track record. Kormakur was the man behind 2 Guns, the Mark Wahlburg and Denzel Washington action film that received mixed responses from critics and he was also the man behind Contraband, another Mark Wahlburg action film that received mixed responses from critics. And Kormakur's direction is lacking a little bit. So rarely in Everest is there a genuinely nail-biting scene and with Everest's budget and storyline, those should be common.
The film also suffers from extreme pacing issues. The first third of this film, I'm going to estimate, is almost alienating in its determination to fit as much exposition as it possibly can before the story and thrills must kick in. There is virtually no conflict or tension until the group of climbers is leaving the summit.
But when the storm hits, the film is immediately more watchable, if never quite thrilling. There are a couple genuine, heart-tugging scenes and a few perilous situations that feel intense, if never edge-of-your-seat. This failure of edge-of-your-seat thrills is due to generic characterization of about every character that it makes it almost impossible for you to care for any of them. It's not that there's too little character development (there's more than enough), it's just that these characters are not interesting. Jake Gyllenhaal, who proves time and time again he's one of the best actors working today, is reduced to the "cool guy" who "just wants to have a good time" and says "bro" at the end of every other sentence.
There's one exception to this generic quality that pervades our characters and that's John Hawkes' character, Doug. He's a regular guy who wants to prove to his students back home that regular people can accomplish the most impossible of dreams. And I think most will be pretty invested with his character! It's a shame he's the only one.
I won't deny that I frequently got caught up in these characters' plights. It'd be difficult not to because the original story is such an interesting one. And the performances are excellent. There's some particularly minor but strong supporting work from Keira Knightley and our main actor, Jason Clarke, is excellent.
There's also some beautiful and dizzying cinematography going on here. The whole film looks wonderful. Salvatore Totino, cinematographer of Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, and Frost/Nixon handles the presumably difficult task of shooting this film very well and the film itself looks crisp, clean, and best of all, freezing cold.
Everest isn't a bad film but it's not a very well made one either. The last half is intense, entertaining, occasionally emotionally affecting, and miles better than the overstuffed, humdrum first half. But it's too bad that the film was weighed down by a poor, pacing-troubled script and some pretty banal characters.
FINAL GRADE: C
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for intense peril and disturbing images