It's a disaster flick for the new millennium - an extreme sports offshoot that doesn't educate a whit. A close look reveals that the special effects are anything but, the screenplay is filled with cliches and the photography is hardly notable. To give the film some heft, Campbell has hired Scott Glenn to play a crusty climber with a past. He's missing toes, personality and family. When he confronts O'Donnell, it's clear there's more to consider than his archaic shaving methods.
Nobody overcomes the material but, then, nobody has to.
As fakey as some of the mountains may look, they're gone in a flash and hardly worth complaining about. This film moves faster than an avalanche and surprises as much as Bigfoot. It stumbles the way Bigfoot might, too. But that doesn't matter. Campbell knows his limits and pushes his story right to the edge.