Everest

CEBU, Philippines - A harrowing spectacle that lacks emotion “Everest” is not an easy movie to watch. No entertainment that contains such tragedy should be.

The truly breathtaking spectacle and technical achievements can make you feel like you too are on a vertical slope at 29,000 feet. But this awe-inspiring movie is also one that’s laced with dread, little triumph and even less perspective as you wait, with a knotted stomach, for the disasters to manifest.

“Everest” recounts the events of, and leading up to, May 10, 1996, when a series of controversial decisions and a heap of bad luck led to the deaths of eight climbers — then the deadliest day in Everest history.

It is not, however, based on the most famous account, journalist Jon Krakauer’s book “Into Thin Air.” It’s an amalgamation of stories, reports and never-before-heard tapes from the day, focused mostly though on adventure consultants lead Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), and Texan climber Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin).

Krakauer is a character in “Everest,” (Michael Kelly from “House of Cards”), but a peripheral, underdeveloped one.

Though all the elements are on display in the movie, the emotions never land — even with the inclusion of previously private conversation between Hall and his pregnant wife Jan (Keira Knightley) as his plight atop the mountain becomes direr.

The large ensemble cast is packed with recognizable faces — Clarke, Brolin, John Hawkes, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emily Watson, Knightley, and Sam Worthington. It can be distracting, but perhaps it is the only way to truly orient an audience with who’s who. There’s not a lot of time to get to know the individuals before their faces are obscured with ski masks and goggles and they’re reduced to, and dependent on, our ability to recall the color of their snowsuits.

Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur (“2 Guns”) wrangles the story, characters, and beastly natural setting as best as he can. The film trots along briskly and hits beats with sitcom precision as we go from sea level to base camp to the ultimate ascent. There is some levity, too, thanks to Gyllenhaal’s earthy expedition leader Scott Fischer.

The scenes on the mountain are truly outstanding, and the 3-D is atmospheric, not gimmicky. You can almost feel the ice thrashing against the characters’ faces as the remarkable storm hits. A brief, thrilling scene with a helicopter is worth the price of admission alone.

The grandiosity of the mountain, though, is juxtaposed with Kormákur’s odd choice to shoot many of the character scenes in extreme close-up. Unless you’re in the ideal center in an IMAX theater, the effect can be claustrophobic, and it does not make the emoting more effective. Instead, it detracts from the performances.

Fictionalized accounts of real tragedy are not impenetrable. James Cameron made us feel for a ship full of characters we’d never met. “Everest” can’t break that seal, and it’s a handicap. Maybe there’s too much reverence. Maybe the story and the truth are supposed to be enough and anything else would have seemed exploitative. With 19 years of perspective and the technical ability to visually tell the story that we’ve all heard so many times at this point, though, it should have been more.

“Everest” is a good movie, but it could have been a great one.