The Blizzard Unravels – Everest Review

This is also the case for the Sherpas and the female characters, including perhaps the most affecting tale of the movie. Yasuko Namba (Naoko Mori), a customer of Hall’s, recounts that she has climbed six summits, and this is the last on her list. This story – which is easily the most interesting – is simply brushed over. Emily Watson puts in the movie’s best performance as base camp’s mother hen and is similarly underwritten. Keira Knightley and Robin Wright do well as the wives of Jason Clarke and Josh Brolin respectively, though they play the stereotypical worried wives back home.

As I mentioned, I saw it in IMAX 3D, and this movie was made for that experience, although not filmed in native 3D. So to get the full impact, I implore you to follow my lead in that regard. The movie from a visual standpoint is pretty thrilling. There are some great moments that show you just how insignificant humans are when it comes to the sheer scale of this locale. 

The vistas and drops with the aid of an IMAX screen and 3D effect come to life and at times I felt I was on that mountain with them. The on-location footage and CGI blend nicely, which I must admit heading in was one of my worries. My only issue with the visuals is that Kormákur never stays for long on any one shot, so although impressive there are no absolute stomach churning moments. The sound by the way is also excellent and really adds to the experience.