Everest has the last word.

Rating: 8/10 (18 September 2015)

Why, oh why, would you want to do it? Climbing Mount Everest sounds like a pointless exercise and before I sat down to a film where the outcome is a foregone conclusion, I remember the countless people that have asked me why I do the things that I do. At the end of the day we all want to feel as though we are alive and that our existence on earth hasn't gone unnoticed. Our need to achieve the impossible far outweighs the risks and dangers to the extent that we are willing to die for personal glory. It's more than the thrill and the story. It's about feeding our soul the very thing that it yearns for, whether it be climbing Everest, jumping out of a plane or leaping off a bridge. Some of us can ignore the impulses and others just have to see them through.
Josh Brolin's character, Beck Weathers, explains his state of depression when he is away from the climb and that the only cure is for him to be chasing the outrageous adventure. John Hawkes character, Doug Hansen tells of his commitment to show his children that an ordinary man can achieve extraordinary things. Whatever the reason, everybody has something that drives them to make the trek up 'the most dangerous place on earth', but the mountain will always have the last word.
You have to remember when watching this movie that the star is Everest itself with a memorable supporting role by Mother Nature. These two gigantic characters determine who will survive and who will meet their demise. Along for the ride are antipodeans, Jason Clarke(Rob Hall), Sam Worthington(Guy Cotter) and Elizabeth Debicki (Caroline MacKenzie). Throw in the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley and Emily Watson and the film has a formidable line-up worthy of conquering the greatest challenges the famous peak can throw at them.
Being based on the true event that happened in May, 1996, we know that lives were lost and the physical, mental and emotional cost that it had on the survivors will live with them forever. The story centres around two climbing teams that fatefully join together because of the popularity of the expeditions that had marshaled at base camp that year. They make the enormous trek to the peak only to find that on their descent down the mountain, a sudden storm does its best to wipe them from the face of the earth. I am unfamiliar with Baltasar Kormakur's work but I believe that he has successfully been able to take the audience right onto the mountain with inspiring views and scaled shots of the climbers against the backdrop of a harsh and unforgiving terrain. You get the opportunity to see just how small the individual is, putting into perspective the near impossible odds that a human faces when he or she decides to ascent such a structure. Not all shots of Everest are in fact taken in the Himilayas with some scenes coming from mountain terrains in Italy but the audience cannot deny the spectacle that unfolds before their eyes.
Kormakur does an outstanding job delivering a film that will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. Many scenes can become confronting and uncomfortable to watch as we see the characters fighting for their very lives. The authentic nature of their struggle makes you live in hope that just once, the director will deviate from the true life story and produce a film with a happy ending, but this is where the film has the most impact. The cast give everything they can with a narrative that is limited and an outcome that is already known. I was on the edge of my seat watching the tragedies unfold and was genuinely left heartbroken by the nature of some characters endings.
'Everest' is a must in 3D to truly appreciate the magnitude of this harrowing event.