Film Review: Everest

Everest. Rated M (mature themes). 121 minutes. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. Screenplay by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy.

‘Because it’s there!’, a chorus of mountain climbers exclaim when they are asked why they want to climb to the top the world’s highest mountain.

Whether this comparatively short-sighted motivation provides adequate reason for why they choose to take on the well-documented horrors that await them on the ascent and descent from heights ‘equal to the cruising altitude of a 747’ – as their Adventure Consultants tour guide Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) points out – remains a point of conjecture long after the experience of this terrifying film begins to fade.

For someone who finds it hard enough walking up a flight of stairs, Everest is a confronting experience. Armchair Adventurists will also find themselves nodding knowingly at every heavily sign-posted calamity that befalls the ill-fated expedition, which exists of enthusiastic amateurs who are happily escorted, at great expense, to the precipice of life and death.

Within an excellent ensemble, Clarke’s performance as the passionate but ultimately flawed hero is outstanding. When Doug (John Hawkes), a quietly spoken mailman from America who failed to make it to the summit on a previous attempt begs Hall to be allowed to continue, you can see the fear that he might be making the wrong decision written all over his face.

As the less-adventurous guide Guy, whom Hall mocks mercilessly for taking his group on less death-defying climbs, Sam Worthington delivers some of his best work to date. Guy’s conflict between wanting to rescue his close friend while knowing that such an attempt could cost him his own life, is a deeply personal one that lesser actors would struggle to communicate as effectively as Worthington does.

Technically, Everest is a spectacular achievement. Under Kormákur’s inspired direction, cinematographer Salvatore Totino captures every aspect and every angle of the brutally unforgiving environment, while Mick Audsley’s superb editing rarely allows you to draw breath.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Terminator Genisys

Terminator Genisys. Rated M (science fiction violence and infrequent coarse language). 126 minutes. Directed by Alan Taylor. Screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier.

The mighty Terminator series of films, which began with James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984), can easily be credited with having influenced an entire generation. Not only did Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll be back” enter the popular vernacular, there was the inspired premise of his T-800 model robot being sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, who was yet to give birth to John, the boy who would eventually grow up to destroy the robots’ nuclear-powered weapon of human annihilation, Skynet.

Kalogridis (the brilliant Shutter Island) and Lussier’s screenplay wisely holds fast and true to the original premise, but adds an additional layer of mind-bending time-play that evolves from an early blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene involving John Connor (Jason Clarke).

John is again leading the armed resistance fighters, including Jai Courtney’s Kyle Reese, in a battle to destroy Skynet. Similarly, Schwarzenegger’s terminator is sent back to 1984 to assassinate Sarah (Emilia Clarke), and Kyle volunteers to go back and make sure she survives. But it is when John, who hadn’t been born yet, suddenly arrives back in 1984 and comes face-to-face with Sarah and Kyle that things really start to get new and interesting.

As much as Genisys is a refreshing take on the original’s storyline and the origins of Skynet, it is actually all about Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is a particular kind of cinematic royalty. While it makes no sense that ‘Pops’, (his older terminator character who now protects Sarah) meets his younger self in terminator mode, the face-off scenes between the younger and older Arnie are, like the rest of Taylor’s assured handling of this hugely entertaining adventure, an absolute treat.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.

Film Review: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Rated M (violence and infrequent coarse language). 130 minutes. Directed by Matt Reeves. Screenplay by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

Verdict: A compelling return to the rebooted Planet of the Apes.

This sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) has its problems, but under Reeves’ (Cloverfield) inspired direction, it manages to mask almost all of them.

Human survivors of the ALZ-113 plague are holed-up in what is left of San Francisco. In the mountains, the apes have established a civilised, self-sufficient community lead by Caesar (Andy Serkis). But when the two communities collide, a battle for supremacy erupts.

While the early sequences involving the apes, horses, a bear and a herd of wilder-beast are clunky, the motion capture technology comes into its own once the script begins to focus on character. Serkis, who is the technology’s human heart and soul (he played Gollum, King Kong and Caesar in Rise …), delivers another superb performance as Caesar. He is beautifully supported by Nick Thurston as his son, Blue Eyes. Our eyes are the windows to our soul, and these two bring great depth to the story with only their eyes.

Australian-born Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) is great as Malcolm, one of the leaders of the human community, and his complex struggle with the ethics of sacrificing peace for the sake of having access to electricity, is one of the scripts many involving storylines.

While the human-hating Koba (Toby Kebbell) feels too much like The Lion King’s Scar, the complexity of the different relationships that feed the story are entirely absorbing. As Reeves moves in for a spectacular close-up on Caesar’s eyes at the end of the film, it might be impossible to know who you will care about most in the impending battle that is to come.

This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.