A disappointing account which squanders its potential

Rating: 5/10 (17 July 2016)

'Everest' under-uses some of its key components, and some of its biggest potential selling points. When I think of Mount Everest, I think of it as part of a landscape. Baltasar Kormákur and some of his crew apparently don't. We don't get to see much of the Himalayas, as the cameras (in spite of the cover poster) keep us uncomfortably close to the characters. The heavy focus on the mountaineers and their distressed friends gave Kormákur plenty of opportunities to appeal to his viewers' sense of humanity, but he didn't capitalise on any such chance. We're therefore left with a paradoxically claustrophobic experience in which we can neither appreciate the scenery and magnitude of Mount Everest, nor become invested enough in the film's characters to really care (which is uncomfortable, given that it's based on a true story!). A number of very strong dramatic performers made an appearance in Kormákur's film, including Keira Knightley and Jake Gyllenhaal. Unfortunately, they aren't given much room to manoeuvre or display the extent of their talents. Frostbite-induced groaning is about as good as it gets for many of the cast... which may be preferable to the boredom-induced groaning of the audience.