Vertical Limit (2000)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Scott Glenn, Bill Paxton, Izabella Scorupco, Nicholas Lea, Ben Mendelsohn, Steve Le Marquand, Temuera Morrison, Roshan Seth

Director: Martin Campbell

Time: 124 mins

I love thrill-ride films. These are movies that aim to throttle you with non-stop action and suspense from start to finish, keeping you on the edge of your seat while you gobble down your popcorn, so that by the end you come out of the cinema exhausted. To be sure, most of these so-called films are trashy, with little semblance of a plot and populated by cardboard-thin characters. The meteor-headed-for-Earth disaster film Armageddon (1998) is a prime example. But watch enough of these and occasionally you will get a gem like Speed (1994), or even an all-time classic like Die Hard (1988). Earlier this year we had The Perfect Storm, and now at its tail end we have Vertical Limit. Judging from the film's trailer, there are a lot of similarities to Sylvester Stallone's 1993 film, Cliffhanger. Both are set in snowy mountain landscapes, and both involve rescue missions. Where they differ is Cliffhanger had pretty much non-stop, but larger-than-life, action setpieces, while Vertical Limit relies more on the setup to generate suspense. Vertical Limit looks like it's action-packed from the trailer, but most of the thrills occur, surpisingly, in the second hour.

One of the cues Vertical Limit takes from Cliffhanger is a short opening sequence where a tragedy occurs on a routine mountain-climbing expedition and mentally scars our protagonists. The Cliffhanger version (the best bit in the whole film) was suspenseful and breathtaking; the Vertical Limit take is almost half-hearted, reaching nowhere near the same level of excitement. It's almost as if it was purposely being respectful; it knew it couldn't top its predecessor's results and just pays homage. Take it from me - it would have been very hard to top that opening from Cliffhanger, so in a way I'm glad Vertical Limit doesn't try. It would have been too obvious.

Following this tragedy, our haunted hero, Peter Garrett (Chris O'Donnell), has settled into a life of mountain wildlife photography. While restocking his supplies, he learns that his sister, Annie (Robin Tunney), who was also involved in the earlier tragedy, is to be part of an expedition financed by rich Elliot Vaughn (Bill Paxton) to climb to the top of K2, one of the most difficult ascents in the world. When a storm descends on the intrepid adventurers and traps them inside an ice cave, Peter rustles up a rescue party that includes old-timer Montgomery Wick (Scott Glenn), nurse Monique Aubertine (Izabella Scorupco), and a couple of Australian climbers, Cyril (Steve Le Marquand) and Malcolm Bench (Ben Mendelsohn). Not only do they have to brave the elements, they must deal with several canisters of explosive nitro glycerine (a nod to the Henri-Georges Clouzot thriller The Wages of Fear) they must carry to blast open the ice cave. Time, of course, is quickly running out.

The big surprise in Vertical Limit is how little action there is in the first hour. There is a large amount of exposition and a whole host of characters being introduced. Once the real action starts, however, it's fairly gripping, if not quite as suspenseful as the trailer would have you believe. There are several gasp-worthy moments, but most of these were already shown in the trailer and hence not really a big surprise when they occur in the movie. Though the "cliffhanging" sequences look seamless in relation to the awesome backdrop of mountains and valleys, there is a "studio soundstage" look to some of the more incredible shots that make me believe some (admittedly excellent) blue-screen work was involved. A minor gripe really, but something to keep in mind in case you're wondering, "How did they do that?"

Director Campbell, a veteran of the Bond comeback film Goldeneye (1995) as well as the Antonio Banderas adventure romp, The Mask of Zorro (1998), must be given credit (together with the technicians) for the competent staging of the action scenes. Annoyingly, though, he often cuts the scene off at the climactic moment and then returns to the character-in-strife (having escaped his/her predicament) a bit later, but at some other location on the mountain. While not saying that every little bit of climbing or rescuing or escaping needs to be shown, I think he could have made the film more exciting and action-packed with the inclusion of lengthier crises. The action is good, but one feels shortchanged with regards to the amount.

The cast is an all-star ensemble. Youthful O'Donnell is adequate but doesn't come across convincingly in some of his scenes. Scott Glenn, all long, flowing hair and beard, is a far cry from the trim, dapper FBI boss he played in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). As for the ubiquitous Bill Paxton, he seems to have popped up in so many movies lately I half expected him to say "Are you ready... to go back to Titanic?" (Only joking, of course.) Robin Tunney, who was the damsel-in-distress in last year's End of Days, is the damsel-in-distress again, but is only required to cough a lot towards the end. Izabella Scorupco is a welcome addition (she was also in Goldeneye), but the scene stealers are the two Australians, Steve Le Marquand and Ben Mendelsohn. Mendelsohn has been a bit quiet lately (following early star turns in The Year My Voice Broke (1987) and The Big Steal (1990)), but Vertical Limit might give him more exposure. It's also good to see The X-Files' Nicholas Lea (he played Fox Mulder's thorn, Krycek) in a major film role, as well as Indian actor Roshan Seth (who was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom).

Thrill-ride films are almost an endangered species. While once a perpetual entrant in the weekly summer film stakes, recent seasons have revealed few works worthy of such a label. Even Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) was quite sedate in parts. Vertical Limit might not be a perfect or even great example of that genre, but it contains nice scenery and enough action in the second half to make for passable entertainment.

(c) Joe Wong (23 December 2000)