What a coincidence that this film releases close to another film I recently watched that is also based on a true story. The good news is, this film feels a lot more cinematic & engaging. The bad - it has similar pacing problems and further lacks a plot.
Note: I have just thought of this problem with films based on true stories. Yes, they tend to be good tributes and allow unaware audiences to know of these events that really did happen. Unfortunately, stick too close to reality and the film becomes dull, and deviate too far and people complain about the facts. I prefer the latter because movies are meant to be movies and not documentaries...but people in this world are just too critical. Anyway, this is why I mostly seek for the science-fcition/fantasy films because they take me places I can't go in the real world.
Okay, back to the review. This film is really engaging and its nice to feel as a part of this team in this grand climbing adventure. The scale is huge, and the visuals are well done, so we are able to really feel how it is to climb Mount Everest. Knowing the challenges and dangers involved, we tend to suspect something bad will happen, so we know the stakes. And these distinct characters are interesting and well-acted, so we get to be quite invested and cared for these characters.
The film also jumps into the mountain itself quite quickly. I had expected there to be a lot of backstory to begin with, but we arrive at the base of Everest in less than 10 minutes into the film. Unfortunately, for the remaining 100 minutes or so, we are still in that mountain. Its a bit too long for my taste, especially with nothing significant going on apart from seeing the dangers in the mountain, and how the characters deal with them.
It may sound slightly cruel but it is as if there's no plot in this film. The whole movie is just about them climbing up this mountain and all the struggles and dangers involved. There really isn't anything else going on...its just a detailed adventure to the summit of Everest. But at least, we are following interesting characters. The backstory and persona contributes to these characters and we get to care for them. So, decent characterization, but no plot.
Apart from that, well, there isn't any action sequences, per se. The visuals are great. I recall almost no humour, however. But the soundtrack is great! The actors are also brilliant. The film basically is a cinematic experience of climbing to the summit of Everest, but its not really a full movie experience.
VERDICT: 5.0
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