North Face" is something of an old-fashioned epic shot with modern wisdom and technique, a man vs. nature flick that also weighs the importance of the individual vs. the social while exposing the mean cost of vicarious thrills.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
12 Mar 2010
rotten:
Philipp Stolzl worked in the same dangerous conditions as the original climbers, and we can feel the chill and peril in our bones. It's a shame, then, that the screenwriter, unlike the camera crew and the characters, was afflicted with such timidity.
– Joe Williams,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
25 Mar 2010
fresh:
A straightforward, wickedly suspenseful Man vs. Nature saga of the type that rarely gets made any more.
– Amy Biancolli,
Houston Chronicle,
16 Apr 2010
fresh:
The mountaineers climb for reasons that have little to do with nationalism - reasons the film clumsily attempts to articulate in words. It's far more successful conveying those inspirations with stunning images of them scaling daunting heights.