The Perfect Storm... on a mountain.
Like The Perfect Storm, this story is better told in a documentary setting.
*We* are the music makers... and *we* are the dreamers of dreams. -Willy Wonka
I don't know about better but:
Documentary's are better for an outline of the facts even if the viewer has to work at it and maybe watch it several times to get the most out of it.
Movies are better for entertainment value were the viewer wants the gist of the story. As a movie viewer I want a good well paced story.
I enjoyed the movie although there were time it would have been better if I had a score card to keep track of the characters. Poetic license in telling the story is fine by me. However putting words in Krakauer's mouth was not necessary. Make up a fictional character to make all the points the director wanted made without resorting to putting words in actual peoples mouths they did not say and may object to.