Everest review: Scales the dizzy heights of a Lifetime movie

A starry cast lines up for this true story of survival on the world's tallest peak, but the likes of Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin and Keira Knightley only elevate the film just above the standard of a Lifetime movie.

Even the mountain itself is let down, never seeming as imposing as it should be (regardless of the IMAX 3D effect) largely because of a rather muddled depiction of events by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur (2 Guns).

Brolin is a grounding force and the solid centre around which a large ensemble cast gathers. It's a fine performance, trading on his characteristic stoicism but with a crucial note of vulnerability as one of the older members of a climbing group. He is wealthy Texan Beck Weathers who is determined to summit Everest in 1996. Jason Clarke is their Kiwi guide Rob Hall, who has a pregnant wife (Keira Knightley in a small but heartrending role) to think about when the weather closes in, while John Hawkes plays Doug Hansen, a US mailman who came close to making the top a year previously, before having to turn back.

There are others but they get significantly less screen time, including - bizarrely - Gyllenhaal who is given a flashy introduction, reclined half-naked in a deck chair at base camp. He plays Scott Fischer, the founder of a company (in competition with Rob) that helped to commercialise Everest and make it more accessible to non-professional climbers.

That philosophy throws up an obvious moral conflict when the '96 expedition goes pear-shaped and which Kormakur - working from a script co-written by William Nicholson (Gladiator, Unbroken) and Simon Beaufoy (127 Hours) - neglects to fully investigate.

Of course, the battle against the elements is the main attraction, but it doesn't prompt any soul-searching for those people who are trapped in the so-called 'death zone' (where the air is perilously thin) after fierce storms move in. Playing a coordinator at base camp, Emily Watson expresses concerns that no-one has summited in a while despite thousands of dollars paid to that end, plus Rob makes a fateful decision to try and satisfy one customer.

These threads aren't picked up later on when Kormakur has a tough time flitting between different sites on the mountain and trying to create some geographical as well as dramatic cohesion. The situation becomes confusing and strangely static.

Tensions rise only as a result of all the waiting around; first for the story to get going, then as the storm rages, prompting the climbers to hunker down. Sam Worthington makes a late entrance, promising to kick the action into a higher gear with a rescue effort - except, that isn't what happens.

This is a survival story marked by passivity, where those involved must simply bow down to the power of nature and hope for the best.

This is a survival story marked by passivity, where those involved must simply bow down to the power of nature and hope for the best. Had Kormakur used this as an opportunity to explore the hearts and minds of the climbers, and had he showcased the mountain to better effect (much of this was shot in the Dolomites but the use of sound stages is also obvious), this might have lived up to its epic title. Instead, this Everest just feels a bit small.

Director: Baltasar Kormakur; Screenwriter: William Nicholson, Simon Beaufoy; Starring: Josh Brolin, Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson; Running time: 121 mins; Certificate: 12A