98% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 58 reviews)
Well, this was an unexpected sequel to Solo...
Actually, Free Solo is not about Han but rather talks about free solo mountain climbing and the insane idea that an expert in that field (Alex Honnold) of being the first to scale El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California without the aid of any equipment such as ropes, hooks or what have you. I imagine someone has already thought of this... yes, just like what James T. Kirk did in the opening act of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Only, if you slip and fall, Spock in special boots won't fly up or down to save you.
Alex has to scale 2900 feet (884 meters) of a vertical granite surface where there aren't many places to hold on and sometimes you have to be very dexterous to move from one spot to another. Needless to say, many who engage in the act of free solo climbing end up passing away as they scale tall objects where a fall is instantly fatal. While Honnold is great at what he does, everyone is concerned about this attempt-including his girlfriend-so no matter the months of meticulous notes he takes or the practice runs he does with friends and safety gear, this becoming a tragedy was an entirely plausible result.
Perhaps not surprisingly for someone who is so successful at a given field, Alex is at least a little weird. There's always the possibility that some things were exaggerated for the cameras (whether by accident or on purpose; the observer effect is always a thing when it comes to documentaries) yet I am not surprised if him being distant from his girlfriend and not being able to effectively be affectionate to his lady is the God's honest truth. He is not a D-bag, but sometimes comes off as one.
I am glad I saw this on the big screen (thank you, AMC A-List app... I am still a fan of the service, BTW) as the theatrical experience was the best way of showing how massive El Capitan is and what an insane idea it is to climb it with no aids; furthermore, there are literally acres of beautiful scenery to marvel at. This was well shot by the directors that gave us Meru... a film I need to put in my virtual queue. You get surprisingly close to Alex at some points during his climbs. In general I am glad Free Solo was not a fall off the cliff sort of experience for me, as I learned something about a topic I really knew nothing about and I now fully appreciate those daredevils who even attempt such insane feats.
Runtime:
100 minutes
Directed
by: Jimmy Chin/Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Starring:
This is a documentary
From:
National Geographic Documentary Films
Well, this was an unexpected sequel to Solo...
Actually, Free Solo is not about Han but rather talks about free solo mountain climbing and the insane idea that an expert in that field (Alex Honnold) of being the first to scale El Capitan at Yosemite National Park in California without the aid of any equipment such as ropes, hooks or what have you. I imagine someone has already thought of this... yes, just like what James T. Kirk did in the opening act of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Only, if you slip and fall, Spock in special boots won't fly up or down to save you.
Alex has to scale 2900 feet (884 meters) of a vertical granite surface where there aren't many places to hold on and sometimes you have to be very dexterous to move from one spot to another. Needless to say, many who engage in the act of free solo climbing end up passing away as they scale tall objects where a fall is instantly fatal. While Honnold is great at what he does, everyone is concerned about this attempt-including his girlfriend-so no matter the months of meticulous notes he takes or the practice runs he does with friends and safety gear, this becoming a tragedy was an entirely plausible result.
Perhaps not surprisingly for someone who is so successful at a given field, Alex is at least a little weird. There's always the possibility that some things were exaggerated for the cameras (whether by accident or on purpose; the observer effect is always a thing when it comes to documentaries) yet I am not surprised if him being distant from his girlfriend and not being able to effectively be affectionate to his lady is the God's honest truth. He is not a D-bag, but sometimes comes off as one.
I am glad I saw this on the big screen (thank you, AMC A-List app... I am still a fan of the service, BTW) as the theatrical experience was the best way of showing how massive El Capitan is and what an insane idea it is to climb it with no aids; furthermore, there are literally acres of beautiful scenery to marvel at. This was well shot by the directors that gave us Meru... a film I need to put in my virtual queue. You get surprisingly close to Alex at some points during his climbs. In general I am glad Free Solo was not a fall off the cliff sort of experience for me, as I learned something about a topic I really knew nothing about and I now fully appreciate those daredevils who even attempt such insane feats.
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