"Everest" - An Epic Mountain of a Movie

 
    I had the privilege, nay the pleasure, of getting an early glimpse at the epically-intense true story that is "Everest", in IMAX 3D, and it didn't disappoint. The movie opens on Friday September 18, and it has taken me a full week to finally get my thoughts down for your reading pleasure. This will be a spoiler-free review, so don't feel bad about reading this before you see the movie. In retrospect, the film is based on a true event so you could just google the story and spoil it yourself. But alas, don't do that. Go see the movie instead.

   The term "based on a true story" seems to be thrown around loosely among Hollywood filmmakers these days. A lot of times, movies that are based on true events are vaguely reminiscent to the real-life moments that inspired the adaptation. I'll be upfront and honest, I did not research this movie or its story, before or after seeing this film. Most of the time I don't when it comes to movies "based on true events" because no matter how close or off the adaptation is, the movie itself an individual piece of art meant to entertain. Going Mulder-and-Scully on the topic, for me, takes away from the overall effect of the film. That being said, this movie felt "real"; not like documentary-real, but more like an entertaining-docu-drama-that-isn't-a-documentary-but-sorta-feels-like-one real. I guess where I'm going with this is that my review of "Everest" is based on the story presented by the film, not the true story, if that makes sense. As a film, this story was awesome.

   Inspired by the incredible events surrounding an attempt to reach the summit of the worlds highest mountain, "Everest" documents the awe-inspiring journey of two different expeditions: one led by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), an experienced climber and multiple-summit-achiever; the other led by Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), an equally-accomplished climber. Challenged beyond their limits by one of the fiercest snowstorms ever encountered by mankind (apparently), Hall and Fischer, along with their climbing parties, are tested by the harshest elements found on the planet. They face nearly impossible obstacles as a lifelong obsession becomes a breathtaking struggle for survival. The film is an epic adventure in every sense of the word.

   Overall this movie was fascinating. The largest negative aspect about it, (let's just get this out of the way first) is that it's difficult at times to place which character is which once the storm hits. As the storm front comes in and thrashes the mountain, all the characters are bundled up and are resorted to yelling. It's extremely difficult to track who is who, outside of the leads Clarke and Gyllenhaal. That's a tough one to deal with at times given the fact that this movie is jam-packed with star-studded talent. Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Robin Wright, and Keira Knightley are but a few members of a loaded cast. The cast as a whole does a fantastic job. Just about every character has some type of arc throughout the piece. There really is no forefront main character. This is an ensemble piece through and through. Each actor brings such a wonderful believability to their character given the extreme situations they find themselves in. You feel for these people (who, don't forget, are real people). 

   The theme of man-versus-nature is essentially the spine of this cinematic beast of a film. For whatever reason, mankind has been fascinated with the impossible, and has conquered the impossible on many occasions. There have been a handful of climbing movies that are just as entertaining, but "Everest" is by far the realest. The story at times is slow and some of the tonal shifts seem to be a bit flat, but overall these minor issues don't take away from the thrilling, and insane adventure that these climbers go through.

   If you have a chance to see this film in some form of larger aspect (whether it be IMAX, IMAX 3D, XD, or RealD 3D XD) take it. This movie is breathtaking in scope. It's a visual spectacle that is truly enhanced by the 3D aspects. There are shots in the movie that are scary. I don't mean like horror-movie-scary, but like "holy crap, those people are nuts!" scary. The stunning visuals capture the majesty, as well as the danger, in such a way that is simply jaw-dropping. I'll be honest, this was only my second IMAX experience ever, and I'm so happy I saw it in that format. You feel as if you are right there on the mountain.

   In a nutshell, this movie will give you everything you would want in a movie-going experience. It's emotional, engaging, intense, and epic. As does every movie, it has it's weak points, but they really don't hold a candle to the overall experience. This movie does a fantastic job at showcasing the brutality of climbing such a massive mountain; how much time and energy it actually takes to achieve such a lofty goal, and just how quickly things can turn from inspiring to bad, and from bad to worse. This movie needs to be EXPERIENCED. I know going to see a movie in IMAX nowadays costs an arm and a leg, but at least check it out in some cinematic form. Don't wait for home viewing. No matter how you see it in the cinema, you won't be disappointed.


EVEREST opens everywhere Friday September 18 with early showings Thursday September 17