Vertical Limit (March 21/01)

Vertical Limit, the latest big-budget extravaganza from Martin Campbell (Goldeneye and The Mask of Zorro), makes an excellent case against the entire concept of mountain climbing.

Chris O'Donnell stars as a hotshot mountain climber who loses his nerve after essentially killing his father in a freak accident on - where else? - a mountain. Robin Tunney co-stars as his sister, who also happens to be a hotshot mountain climber. She's on an expedition with a rich dude played by Bill Paxton when they get stuck in an avalanche. It's up to O'Donnell to put aside his fears and save his sister.

Vertical Limit is about as silly as movies come, but the only thing that really counts is whether or not the action sequences are exciting. And they certainly are, in a big way. From the opening, which contains the tragic death of O'Donnell and Tunney's dad, to that shot from all the commercials featuring O'Donnell jumping from one cliff to another, Vertical Limit has a decent amount of exciting moments.

What it also has, unfortunately, is a lot of talking. At a running time of just under two hours, the movie is probably about a half hour too long. Much of the first hour of the film (excluding the aforementioned opening sequence) features a bunch of people standing around and talking about how dangerous the expedition would be. I suppose Campbell felt that all this stuff was necessary in order to get us to care what happens to O'Donnell and his crew, but really, a short Armageddon-style introduction to all the characters would have sufficed.

But once all that stuff is finished and done with, the movie essentially throws in one action sequence after another (even the helicopter trip to the top of the mountain is perilous). The whole last hour is quite exciting and fun to watch, but the most surprisingly thing was O'Donnell. He didn't suck. Here, with his long hair and unshaven face, he's playing a character that (I would bet) closely resembles his own personality; a guy who refuses to give up and is willing to do what it takes to save a loved one (never mind that the rescue comes at the expense of six other lives).

The supporting cast is good (particularly Scott Glenn as an ultra-grizzled and bitter ex-mountain climber), but the real reason to see Vertical Limit is for the special effects. And, of course, for the exploding volcano of blood (you have to see it to believe it).