Opening Day: 31 March 2011

Synopsis: The 3-D action-thriller Sanctum, from executive producer James Cameron, follows a team of underwater cave divers on a treacherous expedition to the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. When a tropical storm forces them deep into the caverns, they must fight raging water, deadly terrain and creeping panic as they search for an unknown escape route to the sea.

Master diver Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) has explored the South Pacific's Esa-ala Caves for months. But when his exit is cut off in a flash flood, Frank's team-including 17-year-old son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and financier Carl Hurley (Ioan Gruffudd)-are forced to radically alter plans. With dwindling supplies, the crew must navigate an underwater labyrinth to make it out. Soon, they are confronted with the unavoidable question: Can they survive, or will they be trapped forever?

Movie Review:

Whereas “127 Hours” was the story of one man trapped in a cave, “Sanctum” is that of a group of spelunkers trapped within a labyrinth of unexplored caverns in Papua New Guinea. These are no ordinary caves, as we are told in the opening minutes of the film- apparently, the Esa-ala caves make up the largest underwater caves in existence. A monster storm is the excuse for turning the group’s cave exploration adventure into a survival yarn, cutting their route to the surface and forcing them deeper into the subterranean tunnels and caverns.

Despite the prominent billing of James Cameron as executive producer, this Alister Grierson-directed film is nowhere near the Danny Boyle film in terms of thrills or for that matter, any kind of quality filmmaking. While the latter Academy Award-worthy movie was a keenly visceral experience reflecting on the unpredictability and fragility of life, this movie is really no more than a B-disaster movie complete with thinly-drawn stock-type characters and stilted dialogue- no thanks to a tired and clichéd screenplay by its writers John Garvin and Andrew Wight (one of Cameron’s longtime producers).

This is apparent right from the start as we get to know the characters- the gruff grizzled master explorer Frank (Richard Roxburgh), also the leader of the team, who has spent too much time in caves and too little time with his teenage son Josh (Rhys Wakefield); as well as Frank’s playboy/adventurer, and financier of the expedition, Carl (Ioan Gruffudd, better known as Mr Fantastic from the Fantastic Four movies) together with his girlfriend Victoria (Alice Parkinson). Given the poorly sketched characters, you can probably guess that the only development that occurs is the father-son bonding between Frank and Josh.

The lack of characters we care about is but one of the film’s shortcomings; the other is the utterly baffling dialogue that Roxburgh and Gruffudd have to get through. A sampling of that includes- “This cave’s not gonna beat me!”; “Panic is a vulture that sits on your shoulder” and “Life is not a dress rehearsal, you gotta seize the day”. It’s hard to imagine anyone speaking like that in real life, especially not when you are supposed to be so close to the verge of death- but that’s what we are meant to believe these characters in here will do.

Perhaps the only consolation is that there are no contrived villains to speak of, only the elements for our heroes to contend with. These at least offer a modicum of genuine suspense. A sequence where Frank and a fellow explorer attempt to find a way out through a completely submerged cavern will have you on edge as said explorer loses her cool halfway underwater. Another where Frank, Carl, Josh and Victoria have to squeeze through a narrow underwater passage will also have you holding your breath.

Cameron apparently lent his experience of filming in 3D to Grierson, and some of that appears to have paid off. There is a sense of depth to the cavernous surroundings. The action sequences too benefit from the extra dimension by immersing its audience in the environment that makes the tension the characters are meant to be feeling even more real and immediate. Even then, it’s always worthwhile to note that Cameron is not at the helm of this, so don’t expect the same quality of 3D shots as Avatar.

Nevertheless, the strength of any survival tale lies in its human story, which is too plainly absent from this movie. Because we don’t get to empathise as much as we should with the characters, “Sanctum” offers little more than the occasional thrill- and probably the wonder of exploring the subterranean for the lesser-adventurous among most of us. Of course, the fact that this was not filmed in the actual caves, but in Mount Gambier and Naracoorte caves in South Australia among other studio sets diminishes even that little bit of pleasure.

Movie Rating:

(It may offer the occasional thrill, but bad dialogue and thin characters make this an unfulfilling survival yarn)

Review by Gabriel Chong