"For some, the mountain isn't a goal, but a path."
A photojournalist's obsessive quest for the truth about the first expedition to Mt. Everest leads him to search for an esteemed climber who went missing. Based on the manga of the same name, The Summit of the Gods is a French animated film that dropped on Netflix a couple weeks ago after it's critical acclaim from the Cannes film festival. I went in basically blind because I wanted to be awestruck with visuals and have a compelling story to pair with them. I have to say, this is a pretty good movie. If anything works, it's the animation. Everything about it works. I wasn't aware about the manga beforehand, but I have to say the visual style in here works very well when looking at reference photos. The animation brings the story to life. Some of the most thrilling moments are because of what they were able to achieve with the look. Few reviews have complained about the use of animation over live action. All of those complaints are wrong. Another great technical aspect is the score. It's really beautiful and one of the best of the year so far. With as much talk as it's getting just from those two technicalities, it's surprising that it's hardly getting any recognition from general audiences and awards circuits.
The story is equally thrilling and introspective. I love how it's trying to replicate and let people know what it feels like to climb and have us go through the journey. A movie like Everest does a great job at the thrill and showing the dangers and tragedies that come with it. Here, it's more about the feeling and meaning. As great as that is, I can't say I was always on board with the story. It's slow paced and brought me in and out at times. I did have other things on my mind (mostly schoolwork) so that could affect it. I wanted just a little more at times and from the characters. For me, characterization seemed to be a struggle here. They were interesting in their own ways, but it never felt as close as they could've been. Also, there's a couple intense sequences that lost a bit of the thrill where I would've liked a good punch out of them. Some of these are picky and I know that. I did feel invested throughout the runtime. More people should be talking about The Summit of the Gods, but I guess with the little advertisement for it on Netflix, it has fallen under. I can see myself rewatching this in the future and maybe find even more to like. I'd suggest this to anyone. It's nothing inaccessible and would be liked by most.
A photojournalist's obsessive quest for the truth about the first expedition to Mt. Everest leads him to search for an esteemed climber who went missing. Based on the manga of the same name, The Summit of the Gods is a French animated film that dropped on Netflix a couple weeks ago after it's critical acclaim from the Cannes film festival. I went in basically blind because I wanted to be awestruck with visuals and have a compelling story to pair with them. I have to say, this is a pretty good movie. If anything works, it's the animation. Everything about it works. I wasn't aware about the manga beforehand, but I have to say the visual style in here works very well when looking at reference photos. The animation brings the story to life. Some of the most thrilling moments are because of what they were able to achieve with the look. Few reviews have complained about the use of animation over live action. All of those complaints are wrong. Another great technical aspect is the score. It's really beautiful and one of the best of the year so far. With as much talk as it's getting just from those two technicalities, it's surprising that it's hardly getting any recognition from general audiences and awards circuits.
The story is equally thrilling and introspective. I love how it's trying to replicate and let people know what it feels like to climb and have us go through the journey. A movie like Everest does a great job at the thrill and showing the dangers and tragedies that come with it. Here, it's more about the feeling and meaning. As great as that is, I can't say I was always on board with the story. It's slow paced and brought me in and out at times. I did have other things on my mind (mostly schoolwork) so that could affect it. I wanted just a little more at times and from the characters. For me, characterization seemed to be a struggle here. They were interesting in their own ways, but it never felt as close as they could've been. Also, there's a couple intense sequences that lost a bit of the thrill where I would've liked a good punch out of them. Some of these are picky and I know that. I did feel invested throughout the runtime. More people should be talking about The Summit of the Gods, but I guess with the little advertisement for it on Netflix, it has fallen under. I can see myself rewatching this in the future and maybe find even more to like. I'd suggest this to anyone. It's nothing inaccessible and would be liked by most.