Given all the media about Everest commercialism, it is very easy to armchair mountaineer without ever climbing a mountain let alone Everest. Fact is, despite how commercial summiting Everest has become since 1993, doing so remains a dangerous proposition for even advanced climbers. I also wouldn't discount a 15 year-old summiting Everest either. One particular teen climbed five of the "seven summits" prior to Everest. The 80 year-old who reached the summit in 2013 did so twice within the ten years prior (at 70 and 75) and continued to train weekly.
As for the movie, I saw it in 3D on a 76x97 feet IMAX screen. The visuals were stunning and if you have the opportunity to see it in any IMAX format, do so. Honestly, some movies are just made for that level of viewing (e.g. Gravity).
The story is, likely, well known to all. The movie, however, seems to synthesize narratives from Jon Krakauer and Beck Weathers with some writer embellishment thrown in (namely how certain climbers perished). At times, Krakauer comes off as being selfish/scared (skipping people to summit early; refusing to help search for others because . . .being snowblind [the reason, as delivered, comes off as questionable]), however given that he was unfamiliar with Everest (and possessed no 8000m experience), save for how deadly it could be, and that the storm was pounding them, most people in his situation as the movie portrays would have reacted similarly.
Anatoli Boukreev isn't given as harsh a treatment as Krakauer gives him in Into Thin Air. Yes, there is a scene where Boukreev gets admonished for wanting to summit without supplemental oxygen given that he is now a guide, however the movie shows how he braved the storm and rescued the clients from Scott Fischer's Mountain Madness company (Boukreev's employer) and even went for Fischer, alone. Note that all of Mountain Madness' clients survived. Of course, the takeaway (and Krakauer's issue) is that had Boukreev used supplemental oxygen, he would have been able to stay with the climbers longer and not head down in advance of them, thereby minimizing the death toll. But, this point is not made clear by the movie's narrative.
Given the real life accounts of Rob Hall, Jason Clarke likely nailed it. He comes off amiable, compassionate, concerned (for friends/clients/fellow climbers), and very knowledgeable. It is well-documented that Hall's empathy for his friend and fellow climber likely resulted in his death. That plays out well in Everest.
If I had any complaints about the acting, it is that James Brolin plays Beck Weathers like a total dick, which is odd given the synthesis of source material. Honestly, were this movie fiction, prior to the ascent you'd likely wish Weathers to die.
Total isolation is conveyed well and certain scenes definitely make you relieved that your Everest experience is in a comfortable theater. Seeing Weathers and Yasuko Namba lying in the snow, barely breathing, observing guides rescuing others in slightly better condition, hoping to be saved and then watching as they are left for dead, is very much a painful watch. One almost can't help but realize that at the end of the day, it is the climber versus the mountain.
