Jamie Thorburn | Reviews Editor
To the peak of Everest and down again, this movie has its peaks as well as its avalanches.
Everest’s first hour is a slow but gradual development of characters, who we get to know and love, but people looking for a action movie with non-stop twists and turns: this isn’t the movie for you.
The atmosphere is set in the opening credits, showing Everest’s colossal size, but after this it’s a steady story of the climbers’ families and making us feel appreciation towards these characters, and their reasons for climbing Everest.
As the movie progresses, we see Everest’s feats and troubles as the climbers are constantly warned and guided by Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) who leads these climbers, Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), as well as Rob’s wife (Keira Knightley) being there to support Rob on his expedition, pregnant living in Rob’s hometown.
The story picks up the pace around one hour and twenty minutes in, when climbers start getting stuck up the mountain and this leads to a multitude of life and death situations.
With co-stars including Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Emily Watson and Sam Worthington, this movie has a gradual build up to a exciting and thrilling climax: courtesy to a storm on Everest.
The final thirty minutes are exhilarating. By its conclusion, ‘Everest’ will leave you on the edge of your seat, as well as rooting for the well-developed characters to survive. But only if you have stayed tuned through the hour long slow development of characters.
6/10
