Sanctum

Horrorphile

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Sanctum

February 10th 2011 04:32

At a budgetary cost of around $30m you’d think producers would put a little more effort into the completion of a solid screenplay and the casting decent actors. Sanctum (2010), an Aussie-American co-production directed by Alister Grierson (whose other feature is the PNG-set WII movie Kokoda), with the formidable James Cameron as executive producer, suffers irreparably from those two factors not being adhered to. Sanctum looks great, has a real Hollywood feel to its production values (including some rather obvious cave sets), yet thankfully doesn’t try to be a fully-fledged American movie; the movie is a mix of Aussie and American accents, but there are no American actors.

Sanctum Richard Roxburgh and Rhys Wakefield

Richard Roxburgh as Frank and Rhys Wakefield as Josh

Frank (Richard Roxburgh) is an expert diver, leading a small team of cavers into the last great unexplored wonder of the world, the Esa-ala cave system in Papua New Guinea, much of which is underwater. Along for the ride, each with their own agenda or grudge, are the financier and climber Carl (Ioan Gruffudd) and his girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson), Frank’s long-time colleague Crazy George (Dan Wyllie), plus other cave-divers including Liz (Nicole Downs). Frank’s teenage son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) arrives at the jungle island mountain location late having neglected his responsibilities, but soon enough he’s caught up in the same shit as everyone else.

Ioan Gruffudd as Carl

A tropical cyclone hits the island before the core group of cavers can get to safety. Water is pouring down the tunnels burrowing into the mountain at a furious weight and a huge boulder is dislodged which blocks their only exit. Frank and his team now have to find another way out. The only way is down into the restricted areas where no human has ever been before. Hopefully the team can make their way following the underground river system to the sea without any major obstacle. Cue: major obstacles, internal conflict, and a general application of Murphy’s Law.

Alice Parkinson as Victoria

Sanctum could have been so much better if the performances weren’t so uneven, the characters were actually likable and/or interesting, the dialogue wasn’t so trite, and the plot points so predictable. I guessed who was going to be the sole survivor about ten minutes in. Richard Roxburgh pushes it a little hard at being the tough guy, you want Carl to get his almost from the get go, Victoria should be a lot smarter than she is, George gives up too easily, Liz is forgotten before the movie hits its stride, but actor Rhys Wakefield, a Home and Away star (enough said) is the movie’s real Achilles Heel. He should have accidentally died on the repel down into the cave at the beginning!

That's one mighty big hole in the ground

Screenwriters Andrew Wight (who's real life underwater cave drama formed the basis of the story) and John Garvin have fashioned Sanctum like a cross between The Descent (2005) and The Big Blue; it has the cave claustrophobia and inner tension of The Descent, but that’s all, and it strives for the inner space cosmic escape and dangerous wonder of The Big Blue, but falls way short. The 3D effect is almost non-existent, despite the movie having been filmed with the same specially-designed “three-dimensional” cameras James Cameron used to film Avatar. I was hoping for something much more immersible (pun unintended). The cinematography is excellent though, and for the most part the cave sets and real underground and underwater location shooting is impressive. Certainly Cameron’s expertise at underwater shooting would have been more than adequately utilised.

I've got a bad feeling about this ...

... One thing's for sure we're gonna be a lot thinner

About half-way through I started hoping that Sanctum would turn into a science fiction movie, and evidence of extraterrestrial life would be discovered in one of the deep caves. But in the end Cameron's The Abyss (1989) was much more mysterious and fantastical than Sanctum in that way. I felt vaguely disappointed that Sanctum hadn’t tried pushing the nightmare envelope just a little more. I was quite prepared to go there. But maybe that was because of James Cameron’s involvement. Despite its title – and a couple of decent special effects make-up jobs - Sanctum isn’t a particularly memorable den to visit.

When all else fails, close your eyes and drift away

Here’s the trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by ShaunK

February 10th 2011 10:42

Screen Adventure

You sound respectfully objective here Bryn, as many reviews around this part of cyber space didn't hold their tongues quite so courteously.

I'm gonna stay away from this one, maybe one day they'll get it right.

Comment by Bryn

February 11th 2011 01:08

Horrorphile

Shaun, I hadn't intended on being so "respectfully objective" ... It wasn't a dreadful movie, but they certainly dropped the ball in key areas.

Comment by David O'Connell

February 11th 2011 03:21

20/20 Filmsight
Screen Fanatic

Certainly a disappointing and deeply flawed piece of work. The 3D stuff is good but in the end who really cares? The gimmick has well and truly worn off and as this film more than ably proves yet again, no amount of technological advances can improve a truly awful screenplay and mediocre acting.

Comment by Bryn

February 13th 2011 01:30

Horrorphile

'Nuff said.

Comment by Wii-Gamer

February 13th 2011 16:31

Wii Gamers

I agree; James Cameron's expertise in the genre of science fiction and horror could have been much better utilized in this movie. As it is I saw little exciting things and as you said I would have liked to see some extraterrestrial stuff (I mean why else would there be an enormous cave into the earth?) but on the whole this movie rated pretty low on my charts; good review though, two thumbs up