"Sanctum" should be studied in film classes as an example of inadequate film continuity.
I only wanted to figure out what was happening, and where, and why. Still, tactical errors are not what concerned me. They are combining dangerous climbing with risky diving, and it’s a good question why an inexperienced girlfriend was allowed to come along. But it's pretty, has a couple of cool death scenes (the "hair" moment is horrible) and it's much, much shorter than The Abyss.There’s no need to discover this, you understand, but after some loss of life, Frank ( Richard Roxburgh), the leader of the expedition, tells son Josh ( Rhys Wakefield) that only in a cave does he feel fully alive the humdrum surface world is not for him, and "human eyes have never seen this before."Īfter awkward opening scenes of almost startling inanity, we find ourselves deep inside the cave system, and our heroes deep in trouble.
Yes, the cave is surprisingly well-lit and yes, saying "what could possibly go wrong" before abseiling into the bowels of the earth is utterly stupid. From the ethereal splendour of a vast underwater cave to the pockets of air bubbling like mercury on the rocky ceiling, it's a feast for the eyes even when it leaves the brain starving. That said, there's some eerily beautiful moments of utter horror to be found. So when Grrr, Aaargh (Frank MacGuire), Whinging Son (Rhys Wakefield), Millionaire Jerk (Ioan Gruffudd), Comic Relief (Dan Wylie), Woman (Alice Parkinson) and Expendable Foreigner (Cramer Cain) find themselves trapped underground, you'll be more interested in how they're going to die than in the clunky dialogue. In fact, it's not that surprising that as his sticky fingers are all over the post-production and cinematography, this feels like a James Cameron flick where the script never got past the first draft. And you'll probably be able to figure out what order they'll run out of oxygen in as well. Playing out like The Descent with more water and no monsters, it's a beautifully shot survival flick but it's populated with characters so bland that you won't care one bit if they survive or not. For a film that goes so deep underground, Sanctum is a remarkably shallow experience.
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