"The Himalayas" is a broad comedy, a buddy movie, a mountain climbing adventure and a cornball weepie, not always in proportions that go well together.

Director Lee Suk-hoon proves a capable (if uninspired) hand at meeting genre expectations; rest assured that ladders will precariously bridge crevasses, oxygen levels will drop, and grand speeches will be made as our heroes face near-certain death.

While it's hard not to feel frustrated at the thought of a more tightly edited and less hysterical take, Lee nevertheless offers up a couple of hours of polished entertainment

A formulaic glut of schmaltzy clichs and cheap-looking visuals packed into a predictable, witless, braindead script. If someone had pushed the film cans for The Himalayas off a mountain, we'd be all the better for it.