Everest (2015)

Director: Baltasar Kormakur

Writer: William Nicholson, Simon Beaufoy (Screenplay)

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Elizabeth Debicki, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, Josh Brolin, Sam Worthington, Jason Clarke, Clive Standen, Emily Watson, Martin Henderson, Michael Kelly, John Hawkes, Michael Kelly

Plot: A climbing expedition on Mt. Everest is devastated by a severe snow storm.

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

Verdict: Memorizing

Story: Everest starts by introducing us to Rob Hall (Clarke) a skilled climber with years of experience climbing Mount Everest. Rob is preparing for his latest expedition, we also meet Beck Weathers (Brolin), Doug Hansen (Hawkes) and Jon Krakauer (Kelly) all members of the latest expedition even with a rival climber Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal) who has lost out on taking a journalist up the mountain.

We watch as Rob train the want to be climbers through their paces to prepare them for the climb of their life times. Realizing there are too many different expedition trying to reach the summit Rob tries to work out a plan to split climbs so they don’t end up having people waiting to climb the mountain.

Weather clear, teams prepared the time has come to climb Mount Everest with Rob and Scott leading the way, but getting to the top was the easy part it is getting back down during a sudden snow storm hits the team.

Everest is based on the true events of the 1996 incident which lead to the many death on Mount Everest. We follow these victims and survivors as they go up the mountain but have to fight unpredictable weather on their way back down, I think the film handles to subject brilliantly but I will say it struggles to give enough screen time to certain supporting characters. Saying this we do get to see how difficult the climb would be and we are left wondering what will happen (unless you know the real story) and who will make it down.

Actor Review

Jason Clarke: Rob Hall is the lead climber taking teams up Everest, he leads this latest expedition to the top of the highest point on Earth and while everything goes well on the way up to the summit it is the journey down which causes the problems as he needs to lead his team down through a sudden snow storm. Jason does a great job in this role continuing to impress in leading role over the recent years.

Jake Gyllenhaal: Scott Fischer is a rival lead climber who is on a mutual respect level with Rob, he works with Rob to make the increasing number of climbers climbing to the top of the mountain. He has a riskier style compared to Rob but he does understand the dangers all the same. Jake does a good job but I do feel like we needed more from his character.

John Hawkes: Doug Hansen is the man who has returned to the mountain after just missing out on the summit the year before, he works three jobs to make this dream a reality and will never give up on achieving this dream. John does a good job in this role because he looks like a guy who wouldn’t look like the made climber compared to the rest of the team.

Josh Brolin: Beck Weathers is the loud mouth American who see climbing the mountain as a rush, he struggles to deal with the rules because he expects to be getting a chance to climb the mountain not wait for time to do it, he does create a good bond with the rest of the climbers though. Josh does a good job in his role and brings something to the character that makes you not like him.

Sam Worthington: Guy Cotter is a fellow climber who helps make the mountain safer to climb, he works with Rob and is the one that guides him through the ascent from the top. Sam does a solid enough job in this supporting role but doesn’t get enough to do.

Support Cast: Everest has an even bigger supporting cast mostly filled with loved one of the men on the mountains along with the rest of the climbers who end up stuck on the mountain against the storm, they all help as we watch them desperately try to save their loved ones.

Director Review: Baltasar Kormakur – Baltasar gives us a visually stunning looking film telling a tragic story of what happened on the mountain that fateful may.

Adventure: Everest shows what the perils of going on this ultimate adventure really are.

Thriller: Everest keeps you wondering what will happen to the characters from the start to the finish as you root for all of them.

Settings: Everest creates the settings perfectly to show how difficult it would be during the condition the climbers find themselves in.
Special Effects: Everest uses the effects to make each scene look realistic throughout.

Suggestion: Everest is one to watch because it will be one of the best visual treats of the year along with a story that shows how much people risked for that rush. (Watch)

Best Part: Visually brilliant.

Worst Part: I felt the supporting characters needed more screen time.

Believability: It is based on what really happened on Everest in 1996

Chances of Tears: No

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No

Oscar Chances: Could get a few visual awards.

Runtime: 2 Hours 1 Minutes

Tagline: Never let go

Overall: One special film that tells such a brilliant and tragic story

Rating