Everest - Movie Review

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my first review on this blog, and the film that I've chosen was actually one of my most anticipated films of the year (I honestly don't know why, but it somehow was on the list), but here it is! A review for Baltasar Kormákur's new movie: "Everest".

BEFORE YOU CONTINUE; THERE ARE SOME SPOILERS INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET SPOILED, THEN I RECOMMEND YOU TO WATCH THE FILM BEFORE YOU READ ON!

 "Everest" is a movie directed by Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns, Contraband) and stars Jason Clarke (Rob Hall), Josh Brolin (Beck Weathers), Jake Gyllenhaal (Scott Fischer), Keira Knightley (Jan Arnold), John Hawkes (Doug Hansen), Michael Kelly (Jon Krakauer), Robin Wright (Peach Weathers), Emily Watson (Helen Wilton) and Sam Worthington (Guy Cotter) and it tells the true story of the 1996 Everest Disaster.

(For more details about the disaster, I recommend to read the book written by Jon Krakauer: "Into Thin Air". It's a first hand account of the events that took place and it's very thrilling and is an interesting book to read.)

Before I get into the way the film was acted and done, I've got to say that this movie has definitely been one of the greatest film experiences I've ever had in a cinema this year. I watched it in IMAX 3D and the second I walked out of the theatre, the first thing I thought was that: "This film is made for 3D". And yes, it was. I watched this twice, once with my dad and once with my friends and both times I've seen this in 3D and I can't imagine seeing this in 2D. Personally, I think that it just ruins the excitement and extraordinary visuals this has, and it has a completely different experience when you're watching the movie, but enough for the introduction! Let's start with the acting in the movie.

THE ACTING

Jake Gyllenhaal is probably one of the greatest actors we have today, with his outstanding performances notably in "Nightcrawler" and "Enemy", this man can really act. The trailers for "Everest" show a lot of Gyllenhaal and the rest of the actors but I was really disappointed that they only showed around 20 minutes of him in the entire film. Scenes that included Gyllenhaal were more interesting and exciting, and he's the "unknown" star of this film. It really was a bummer to walk into the theatre expecting more from him then realizing that he only has around 30 lines in the movie. He could've brought more emotion and intensity to the film, I think but nevertheless, we have to talk about the real and actual star of the movie: Jason Clarke.

JASON CLARKE AS ROB HALL
With his recent movie being "Terminator Genisys", Clarke does give a decent performance in this film and is convincing at some parts, which suffices for me. His highlight moment of the film definitely has to be the part where he talks to his wife, Jan Hall (Keira Knightley) over the phone when Rob (Clarke) is stranded on the mountain - near the summit. It was heart wrenching, and I did see a couple of people crying in the cinema (my friend did as well). Nevertheless, Clarke's performance was good, but it's not very eye catching or can be recognised by other people.

THE REST OF THE ACTORS
The rest of the cast doesn't really appear much, with Robin Wright and Keira Knightley being on screen for probably only 10 minutes or less.
To be perfectly honest, I think the person who gave the greatest performance in this film has to go to Emily Watson. She's great in this movie and shows definite tension during the climaxes and I just don't think people give her enough credit in this film.
Josh Brolin is okay, though he doesn't do much, although I really enjoyed his portrayal of Beck Weathers as he puts a little bit of charisma and humour into a dark and saddening film. Along with Brolin, the same goes to John Hawkes, Michael Kelly and Sam Worthington - nothing interesting about their performances and they're pretty much ignored for the entire film, but anywho, they were decent and do make a difference to the film no matter what.

(Some scenes shown in the "Everest" trailers)



THE DIRECTION AND CINEMATOGRAPHY

The direction was slick and smooth. There are quick cuts during intense sequences which did make me dizzy at some areas, though otherwise, Baltasar Kormákur does make you feel like you're sucked into the film. The cinematography in my opinion was outstanding and beautiful. The wide shots of the mountains were breathtaking and there was this one particular scene which I thought looked absolutely wonderful was during the beginning of the film where the mountaineers were getting up to the Everest Base Camp and the camera shows wide shots of Nepal which was filmed very very well. The movie really makes you feel like you're there with the climbers; that you're experiencing all this with them and that's a great thing that this movie does.

 THE MUSIC SCORE

The OST / Score is composed by Dario Marianelli who also composed soundtracks for films like: "Pride and Prejudice" (2005), "V for Vendetta" (2006) and "Atonement" (2007), and I've got to say that this score is written extremely well. Personally, my favourites include "Setting off for Kathmandu" and "The Call", but nevertheless, the entire soundtrack captures the feeling of Mount Everest well and is probably not praised enough. It isn't the greatest score of the year, and most likely wouldn't get nominated for an Academy Award (though the visual effects might stand a chance), but it's definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard it yet.

THE VISUAL EFFECTS
Unbelievable. Just unbelievable. The main positive in this movie in my opinion, is the experience and how life-like it is when you're watching "Everest" in cinemas. Again, as I said earlier, the wide takes of the mountains were breathtaking and beautiful - with the lovely score, this film really takes you aback by how nicely it's done. Some scenes are filmed on location in Nepal, but scenes such as ones including the hikers getting to the top of Mount Everest are fairly realistic and are believable to be real. Even so, yes, I think that "Everest" should at least get a nod from the Academy for Best Visual Effects, though with competitors like "The Revenant" and "Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens", it's hard to imagine how this can withstand against those films.

THE CONCLUSION
In the end, I did enjoy "Everest" but not as much as I originally thought I would - considering I was excited to see this for the first time in cinemas. I didn't like the pacing of this film; in the beginning, the way the characters got from one place to suddenly the Base Camp of Mount Everest, somehow made me confused when I first watched it, and I just felt that it was a bit too long. The beginning of the film was very bland and nothing really interesting happens except for mountaineers trying to get to the top of the mountain, but at the climax, it starts to get more interesting and the audience starts to get more drawn into the film instead of sitting there and are getting fed information about how dangerous climbing Everest is and about the climbers' lives.
The story of the movie was dark and hard to wrap your head around, and in scenes where certain characters die, they just seemed rushed and aren't very "heartbreaking" as what you might expect a death of a character to be like.
The main positive about this movie is the experience and visual effects which are absolutely mind-blowing and are made to be watched in IMAX 3D.

So in conclusion, I'm giving "Everest" a 7.2 out of 10.

- Yanni :)