An Empty Spectacle That Fails To Take The Advantage Of Its Massive Canvas!

Rating: Null/10 (23 November 2015)

It is really a shame that despite featuring a star-studded cast placed in a highly dangerous environment where anything could go wrong anytime, where the element of unpredictability is high, and where tension can be created in the simplest of scenes, Everest simply fails to create such nail-biting moments and for the most part, is nothing but an empty spectacle.
Based on the 1996 disastrous expedition to scale Mount Everest, Everest follows Rob Hall; the leader of an expedition team whose task is to guide his clients to the summit of Mount Everest and bring them back safely. The plot covers the adventure he & his group embarks on and the devastating turn it takes when a severe snow storm hits them on their way back.
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, Everest could have been so much more with the resources its plot provided but isn't thanks to mediocre direction. The film takes so much time to get us acquainted to its characters and yet the characterisation remains poor and is evident in scenes when their life is at stake. At times, the writers try too hard to make the viewers feel for these people but it just doesn't work.
The technical aspects are a mishmash of impressive & absurd work. Set pieces are refined & detailed while the shooting locations bring an authenticity of its own. Cinematography is arresting when it comes to landscape photography, colour tones are smartly utilised but it fails to enhance the action in any way. Its 121 minutes of runtime feels a tad too long. VFX is expertly carried out while the background score is absolutely useless.
Coming to the performances, Everest features a fine cast in Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, John Hawks, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Robin Wright, Sam Worthington & Michael Kelly and yet there isn't one performance that leaves its mark. Clarke still lacks the charisma to lead a film on his own, Gyllenhaal does well with what he's given, Brolin is very much wasted, Worthington has no idea what he's doing here, Watson is fine while Wright & Knightley don't have much to contribute.
On an overall scale, Everest could have been one of the best survival films to surface on the silver screen in recent years but thanks to basic direction & lazy writing, it falls very short of what it went out to achieve. With so many characters inhabiting this disaster story, it sucks that not even one manages to strike a chord as the film fails to capture the very excitement & danger of a larger-than-life voyage like this. Entertaining in bits n pieces, photographed in splendid detail but lacking the element that makes a good movie great, Everest is unable to take the advantage of its massive canvas and is more or less a disappointment.