7.5/10

Rating: 7/10 (26 September 2015)

Breathtakingly beautiful and immersive as few movies have been recently and nail bitingly tense. "Everest" is one of 2015's most pleasant surprises. A thriller that doesn't overdo it's true story and makes for one of those experiences where you will be stuck on the screen for two full hours be it for the tension or just for the magnificent photography.
This could have easily been a throw away film with some good imagery and maybe a couple of good moments, but actually the director cared about every aspect of the movie and with one of the most impressive casts of the year, which gives its all in an assemble of very committed and convincing performances, he made a film in which you get to know about ten or twelve characters very well, you relate and care about them, but most importantly every single one of them has a full fleshed arch, that you understand and empathize with. That is actually very, very difficult to do with so many characters. They don't obviously all have an arch worthy of a Michael Corleone, they aren't explored so deeply, but it is very remarkable to see a film treat so many characters so respectfully and balance them all out in two hours.
Yet easily the most impressive part of the film is the setting and the camera work. This is one of those very, very rare movies nowadays where I actually asked myself "how the hell did they do that?". This film feels real in ways that I couldn't even have imagined going in. Really this is as impressive as it gets. I kept asking myself how did the director achieve this, he made it actually look like they were truly climbing the Everest, he made you feel there in that mountain with the characters. It was amazing. The filmmakers really had an understanding of their geography and managed to bring the audience in and never, ever loose it. The combination of this and the characters really made for an experience that will be remembered.
Of course the movie has limits and I think it actually has set limits for itself. There isn't any superior storytelling or revolutionary techniques. The film knows what it is doing and does it perfectly, but it tells the story in a very conventional way. That is obviously perfectly fine, but don't excpet to come out from this film feeling your life has changed. It doesn't explore deeper themes that are only mentioned, it doesn't put a personal style on things. It also becomes very pushy with its true story material in the final note and may I say needlessly so. I really hate when movies do this. There is no absolute need to do it: shoving down your throat on the last thirty seconds an emotional punch that feels forced and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, I was both moved and thrilled by the film, I really enjoyed it and had a blast in the theater, I really recommend to see this in the cinema even though I don't think it will be ever worth a rewatch.