Everest

Based on true events, Everest follows several men and women as they endeavor to make it to the top of the titular mountain – with the perilous trek, not surprisingly, fraught with complications and difficulties. Hit-and-miss filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur delivers a strong opening stretch that effectively sets up the scenario and various characters, with, in terms of the latter, the movie benefiting substantially from a strong cast that includes Jason Clarke, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Josh Brolin. And while the movie’s first half is solidly entertaining, Kormákur is never quite able to wring the expected suspense and tension out of several key sequences – with the only real exception to this a fairly engrossing scene involving a cross over a chasm on a rickety ladder. It’s clear, as well, that the film’s erratically-paced midsection does it absolutely no favors, as it suffers from a fairly long stretch detailing a storm that threatens the climbers – with the impact of this section drained substantially by one’s fruitless efforts at discerning just what’s going on. Still, Everest does manage to pack an unexpectedly emotional punch during a handful of key portions of the narrative – which ultimately does compensate for the final product’s less-than-polished bent. (It’s hard to deny that the movie could’ve used a few more passes through the editing bay, with, especially, the needlessly action-packed climax ensuring that the whole thing ends on a lackluster note.)

*** out of ****