Review of Everest (2015) by Maksim B — 21 Feb 2016

A visually dazzling spectacle, Everest is made with the purpose of impressing the audience with breath-taking cinematography, A-list Hollywood cast and a tragic true story. It may not meet the expectations for a remarkable story or a gut-wrenching survival drama, but this is partially compensated by the fact that for almost two hours you could be hypnotized by the wonderful cinematography and camera work.

The movie is a sort of loose documentary drama that describes the events of 1996 when a multiple Everest expeditions are caught up on the mountain by a blizzard which leads to the death of 8 climbers. Having said this, if one is familiar in advance with the story, Baltasar Kormakur's movie will be worth seeing it only for the beautiful and breath-taking depictions of Everest. The rest will be certainly involved in the events prior to the blizzard itself and will potentially enjoy the story much more.

If the technical side of the film-making is quite impressive, the same cannot be said about the story. It is true that with a well-known story a director could hardly experiment if he wants to be in line with the actual events, but on the other side Everest could have been much more emotionally loaded. The first hours is actually quite slow and this could have been used to build up a better connection between the characters and he viewers, but unfortunately the director Baltasar Kormakur is busier with perfecting the visual side of his delivery. Thus, when the movie's climax takes place, you will not really be touched by the suffering and the harsh survival reality for the climbers, but you will observe it as a documentary in which you just expect to see the end of the story.

In conclusion, Everest is definitely a passable delivery, which is worth seeing at home, on your big LED TV (or 4K TV) if you are up for two hours of beautiful nature photography and climbing scenes. If you are looking, however, for something more dramatic and more unpredictable, you will be partially disappointed.