It's amazing the things they can do with special effects now! First we have the wonderful sequences where the Alps are made to look a little tiny bit like the Himalayas. Then there are various scenes of what appear to be computer generated avalanches. Not bad! But the true achievement of Vertical Limit comes with the appearance of one of the first entirely computer generated actors in a major motion picture. And who knows... within ten years perhaps those crazy technicians at Industrial Light and Magic will make a "Chris O'Donnell" that can show life-like emotions.
But I'm too mean to Mr. O'Donnell. In reality, his only flaw as an actor (beyond his inability to deliver dialogue outside of a high voiced monotone) is that his screen presence is just too blandly benign. When that presence is correctly used, O'Donnell isn't really a disruptive force. See Cookie's Fortune for evidence. However, in Vertical Limit, O'Donnell just doesn't have the charisma or presence to hold the movie together. It's likely that even a proven action star couldn't have overcome the cliched script and perplexing resolution, but O'Donnell adds nothing to this movie.
O'Donnell plays Peter Garrett, a former mountain climber and current photographer for National Geographic. In the opening scene of the movie we see Garrett forced to make a touch choice which led to his father's death. Naturally things are a little tense between Peter and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney), who was also involved in the opening accident. Annie, though, has continued to climb and she's about to go on an expedition to summit K-2, the world's second tallest mountain. The trek is being funded by billionaire sportsman Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton), who's using the trip as a publicity stunt for his new airline. Wouldn't you know it, though, an accident leaves three climbers stranded on the mountain with only 36 hours to live and it's up to Peter Garrett to put together a team of climbers for a rescue mission. That team includes a French-Canadian babe, two crazy Aussies, a devout Muslim, and the inevitable hairy mountain man (Scott Glenn), who knows the mountain better than anyone. If you can't look at those character types to know who's going to live and who's going to die... Well, then Vertical Limit will contain nearly endless thrills and chills. Otherwise, you're pretty much going to watch people slide down tall mountains.
The first 50 minutes of the Vertical Limit script (credited to Robert King and Terry Hayes) are a little twisty and jargon-heavy. The moments involving the Pakistani army are arbitrary and the guilt laden conversations between O'Donnell and Tunney are necessary to the plot, but nothing more than perfunctory. After the rescue mission gets going, though, people mostly stop talking and the movie picks up.
Director Martin Campbell is fairly proficient at directing this kind of glossy, big budget action movie. He lacks the style that Renny Harlin brought to Cliffhanger (hey, "Euro-hack" is a style, isn't it?), but he's a master of pacing. Working with Oscar-winning editor Thom Noble, Vertical Limit comes together very well and produces some very solid action moments.
MAJOR AND TOTAL SPOILER BELOW
***************************
Vertical Limit ends on a strange note. We're looking at pictures of the men who died on the mountain during the movie. It becomes clear that the rescue mission led to the death of six people and the only person who was saved was Robin Tunney's character. Are we supposed to feel that it was worthwhile because the Glenn character revenges his wife's death? That's bittersweet. It would be tough to argue that the loss of human life was worth saving one climber and yet the dead are looked at as heroes.
There's no point in talking about the acting in this film. Tunney is nice for me to look at. I assume looking at Chris O'Donnell will also please people. And Scott Glenn is amusing and comes the closest to acting. The supporting characters all blend together completely.
Vertical Limit is not a horrible movie, but for its first hour it's fairly dull and as a whole it only delivers on a hint of its promise. This is a 5.5/10.
But I'm too mean to Mr. O'Donnell. In reality, his only flaw as an actor (beyond his inability to deliver dialogue outside of a high voiced monotone) is that his screen presence is just too blandly benign. When that presence is correctly used, O'Donnell isn't really a disruptive force. See Cookie's Fortune for evidence. However, in Vertical Limit, O'Donnell just doesn't have the charisma or presence to hold the movie together. It's likely that even a proven action star couldn't have overcome the cliched script and perplexing resolution, but O'Donnell adds nothing to this movie.
O'Donnell plays Peter Garrett, a former mountain climber and current photographer for National Geographic. In the opening scene of the movie we see Garrett forced to make a touch choice which led to his father's death. Naturally things are a little tense between Peter and his sister Annie (Robin Tunney), who was also involved in the opening accident. Annie, though, has continued to climb and she's about to go on an expedition to summit K-2, the world's second tallest mountain. The trek is being funded by billionaire sportsman Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton), who's using the trip as a publicity stunt for his new airline. Wouldn't you know it, though, an accident leaves three climbers stranded on the mountain with only 36 hours to live and it's up to Peter Garrett to put together a team of climbers for a rescue mission. That team includes a French-Canadian babe, two crazy Aussies, a devout Muslim, and the inevitable hairy mountain man (Scott Glenn), who knows the mountain better than anyone. If you can't look at those character types to know who's going to live and who's going to die... Well, then Vertical Limit will contain nearly endless thrills and chills. Otherwise, you're pretty much going to watch people slide down tall mountains.
The first 50 minutes of the Vertical Limit script (credited to Robert King and Terry Hayes) are a little twisty and jargon-heavy. The moments involving the Pakistani army are arbitrary and the guilt laden conversations between O'Donnell and Tunney are necessary to the plot, but nothing more than perfunctory. After the rescue mission gets going, though, people mostly stop talking and the movie picks up.
Director Martin Campbell is fairly proficient at directing this kind of glossy, big budget action movie. He lacks the style that Renny Harlin brought to Cliffhanger (hey, "Euro-hack" is a style, isn't it?), but he's a master of pacing. Working with Oscar-winning editor Thom Noble, Vertical Limit comes together very well and produces some very solid action moments.
MAJOR AND TOTAL SPOILER BELOW
***************************
Vertical Limit ends on a strange note. We're looking at pictures of the men who died on the mountain during the movie. It becomes clear that the rescue mission led to the death of six people and the only person who was saved was Robin Tunney's character. Are we supposed to feel that it was worthwhile because the Glenn character revenges his wife's death? That's bittersweet. It would be tough to argue that the loss of human life was worth saving one climber and yet the dead are looked at as heroes.
There's no point in talking about the acting in this film. Tunney is nice for me to look at. I assume looking at Chris O'Donnell will also please people. And Scott Glenn is amusing and comes the closest to acting. The supporting characters all blend together completely.
Vertical Limit is not a horrible movie, but for its first hour it's fairly dull and as a whole it only delivers on a hint of its promise. This is a 5.5/10.