Movie Review: “The Mountain Between Us”

The Mountain Between Us, starring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, told the story of
two strangers that, after surviving a plane crash, had to survive along with their
deceased pilot’s dog and find civilization. In the snowy mountains, the constant threat of
cold, shortage of food, and dangers of the wild kept suspense up. While this was fine,
there were a few things that took away from the movie.

The story was lackluster. Though the suspense of the survival situation was
enough to keep the audience’s interest, it was not unique by any means. The story of
two strangers, a man and a woman, who find themselves in a certain situation that
leads them to fall in love during the movie or by the end has definitely been done before
and brings nothing new to the table. The conflicts were unnecessary, some moments
felt unnatural and awkward, and the love story felt rushed and ultimately unnecessary
for the story to be good even though some feel the love story as almost an “expected”
outcome. This story could have gone in any other direction and would have actually
been good because it wouldn’t have given in to the typical cliché end. I would have to
describe this story as very cliché and very similar to the plots of many many movies
before it.

Of course being professionals, Kate Winslet and Idris Elba do their jobs right
filling the roles of the main characters. They do justice to their story well enough,
however many times they are in situations that almost seemed unnatural or even set up
by the director simply just to happen and add more unnecessary difficulties to
overcome. Despite Idris and Kate’s acting skills, it wasn’t enough to outweigh the
takeaways.

The scenery and visuals were some of the very few redeeming qualities that
saved this movie from an even lower score. The snowy mountains and variety of shots
used to film were well placed and pretty. The use of silent moments to capture the
feeling of certain scenes. I hardly noticed the music that played. Camerawork was fine
and visuals were good. So I would say technical elements were good for the most part.

This movie wasn’t one that I liked much. It doesn’t really have good unique elements
that make it stand out from the noise of all Hollywood movies. It is pretty mediocre in
this aspect and I found it boring and lacking something special to make it great. I do like
the dog in the movie though, he provided some good comedy relief. I will say though,
don’t just take my word for it and decide not to see this movie. Definitely go see the
movie and decide what you think about it.