MOVIE REVIEW: EVEREST

Last night we decided to have a “date night” and go out for dinner and a movie.  Our movie choice was a toss-up between “Everest” and “Hotel Transylvania 2”.  We chose “Everest”, so glad we did.

I am going to try to be very careful to not give any spoilers, which is more difficult than you might think where this movie is concerned.

We both went into this movie with no background  information on the incident so it was all a new story to us.  We also were both wishy washy on whether or not we were even interested in the movie.  Therefore, we were a blank slate on our opinions.

It didn’t bode good to us that when we climbed the “mountain” of stairs going to the balcony of the movie theater there was only one other patron in the theater. 

The movie started off, for lack of a better word, busy.  They rushed right into introducing the characters in the backdrop of busy airports in places like Nepal, and Katmandu.

I was interested, as a travel junky, in the locale so I was torn between looking at what was going on in the background and learning the characters.  As the movie went on I learned to identify the players by the color of their snowsuits.  Even at that by the end of the movie I was still trying to sort folks out.  Of course that could have just been me, but then my husband said he had the same problem and still didn’t know who some of the folks were.

One familiar face and voice haunted us the whole movie because we could not place who was playing the character Beck.  A check of IMDB jarred our memories, the part was played quite well by Josh Brolin.  He is the only actor we truly recognized while at the movie.

Once I read the list of actors on IMDB I recognized a few other names, but most were unknowns to me.  I actually think this added to the movie experience for us.

Based on a true life event the movie is a chronological event from the beginning of the trip to where they are now, but it was not done in a true documentary format. Which I was again thankful for.

It did have a bit of history across the screen in the beginning, which we appreciated.

As the movie moved on it also had locations typed across the screen to help you figure out exactly where they were and what was going on.  We found it helpful.  It did not hinder the flow of the movie at all. In fact I highly recommend you read each bit of info they supply you.  It really helped us follow the story line.

From the first meeting of the mountaineers the story line develops and draws you in.  You find yourself pulling for the different characters, identifying with the breathing difficulties, feeling their exhaustion, and emotions.

We didn’t realize it as we watched the movie how tense we were during the show.  It was only afterward, as we relaxed, we both realized we had been very tense during the last part of the movie.

We were both so engrossed in the movie we refused to take a much needed bathroom break toward the end of the long feature, because we didn’t want to miss a ssingle second of it.

Spectacular aerial views draw you in to the story line, giving you the feel that you are actually on Mount Everest.  You develop great respect for the mountain with its temperamental weather changes and its defiance against man.

Both my husband and I give this movie a strong “A” rating.  However, that being said.  We love based on true life  movies, like “Argo” and similar.  If you need bang, bang shoot’em up type movies to be entertained then this might not be the movie for you.

This is a movie that makes you think and makes for good discussion afterwards.

I wish I could tell you more about the movie, but it would involve spoilers and that wouldn’t be right. 

Jan who still wants to see "Hotel Transylvania 2" in OK