When I went to see Everest, there was a good percentage of people eating popcorn, probably expecting to have a satisfying 3-D survival flick like most would provided if they were wary of the original story. Then the ending happened and I thought wow they were like 5 year old's who saw this with me. That definitely made me doubt the marketing a bit. Everest is a grim tale, that doesn't mean the movie isn't good, but it is a tragedy and some discretion is advised.
The movie chronicles the events that resulted into the Everest Disaster of 1996 when groups of mountain climbers led by Rob Hall and Scott Fischer among others to scale the eponymous mountain, were faced with adverse conditions once a deadly storm approaches.
The story is impacting, without a doubt, and highlights just how dangerous this mountain really is and what sort of conditions climbers face. Yet at the same time with its dazzling cinematography, also shows its deadly beauty. With some good development and motivation, it also does a good job of making us care about the characters regardless of whether you have prior knowledge of the events or not. I can prove this because I never heard of this story before watching the movie and it left me awe-struck afterwards. The first hour or so serves as a good education into what preparations climbers go through and the journey that is climbing Mount Everest and you can definitely feel a high once they reach on the top even though you're not actually there. The real story however, starts in the second hour and it is one travesty after the other to the point it feels like Final Destination in real life, things get serious as each of the climbers are tested, exposed to the elements and many of them may not remain alive.
Another thing that I feel makes this film different from other mountaineering films or even films focusing on Everest is that it serves as an interesting commentary on modern mountain climbing and its commercialisation, especially at Everest. Rob Hall with Adventure Consultants, actually pioneered the business of mountain climbing where they would guide clients into expeditions such as Everest for a sum of money. And now one can see its effects in the so-called traffic jams of Everest as around 29 expedition groups can be found on the path.
As I said before, the cinematography is stellar. And one should expect nothing less considering its setting, the picturesque Himalayas. Something I noticed in the camera work was that it was very spatial in nature, meaning that you see in all of it shots that there is always a degree of dimensionality going in there. For example all the mountain shots, or when they are on the Hillary Step or on the South Summit, the narrow paths become really claustrophobic with a sheer drop at the next step. It represents the physical scale of the environments very well. And the 3D just makes it that more scary right down to some vertigo inducing stuff. It also helps that much of the shooting did take place on real mountains and a lot of it on Everest itself
The characters are driven by performances by an ensemble consisting of brilliant actors through and through. Star names including are Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhall, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightely, Emily Watson, Elizabeth Debicki, Sam Worthington, etc. Jason Clarke, portrays the role of Rob Hall, the leader of Adventure Consultants' group that day and he is a bit of a handholder during the climb, showing us that he really, really cares for the safety of his clients though still taking risks if he felt that it was worth it especially in Doug Hansen's case, as played by John Hawkes. Scott Fischer, Gyllenhall's character, is my favourite being an eccentric mountain climber leading his own group of clients and thus becomes one of Hall's healthy competition. I enjoyed the relationship between the two as in the question of safety they team-up to climb together and help each other. The sense of camaraderie in mountaineering is noticeable and definitely amps up the character interaction as it becomes men against nature.
The female characters are also good as they provide moral support to the climbers in direcircumstances, or provide logistical support from base-camp. But not all female characters are just support. Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori) was also a climber on Hall's team and her climbing Everest, effectively making her the second Japanese woman to reach all the Seven Summits.
With the combination of superb performances and characters, solid direction, stellar spectacle and a deeply impacting and tragic story, Everest highlights the very real dangers that climbers face on Everest and how little mistakes or ignorance can mess things up. When you are exposed on the cruising altitude of a 747, it may not always be a happy ending.
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