Everest (2015)
I'm not going to lie, my expectations for Everest sat quite nicely at ground zero (around where I would imagine base camp to be) - I thought this was simply going to be yet another action-packed disaster-esque kind of film. And so, it was that I was pleasantly surprised by the quite-grounded nature of the film that built its action and suspense not through crazy special-effects action set-pieces but through character drama and the realistic threats that one would encounter summiting the highest peak on this planet.
It may be that part of my enjoyment of this film stemmed from my own recent experience as a few years ago I hiked up a mountain and got a small taste of the dismantling effect that cold and oxygen deprivation has on a body. No, what I climbed is nowhere close to the feat of Everest, but a lot of what is depicted in this film regarding preparation (both mental and physical) were things that our guides talked to us about on our own climb. As mentioned, in Everest the tension is mainly built around two facets - the elements and the lack of oxygen. At that elevation the cold and the wind are volatile entities to say the least. Pairing this with the diminishing oxygen available that makes it difficult to think straight or put one foot in front of the other and you have all of the suspense and tension builder you need to make an effective thriller. The film, at the beginning, sets the necessary amount of time in telling us just enough about each of the climbers and their personal motivations to create some investment in their causes. It also helps that the film has a remarkably extensive and talented ensemble cast present, including Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Michael Kelly and Elizabeth Debicki. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the film is all based on a very true and tragic story that has previously been adapted into a number of best-selling novels (including by famed journalist/author Jon Krakauer who was one of the climbers during this trip). The only real major drawback I would say is that, towards the end, the film loses a bit of its momentum and falls into the over-dramatic and drawn-out exchanges that we are used to see in such disaster types of films. Other than that, I would quite highly recommend Everest to anyone interested in a classic man vs nature thriller or anyone interested in (what I perceive to be) a decent representation of what climbing a dangerous mountain is like.
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