Sometimes all a thriller requires is a fresh setting to move us to the edges of our seats.
Do we really need to see yet another haunted house movie, no matter how well crafted it may be? But who can’t appreciate an underwater cave adventure?
It’s why “Sanctum,” the new 3-D feature from Mr. Third Dimension himself, James Cameron, deserves a hearty welcome. The film follows a cursed cave diving team fighting for survival.
Cameron may only be an executive producer on the film, but his stamp is all over the production. Who else could bring us so many cliched characters while keeping us riveted for nearly two hours?
“Sanctum” follows a band of cave divers preparing for a grand adventure in Papua, New Guinea. The assembled team, including veteran cave diver Frank (Richard Roxburgh), his bratty son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) and investor Carl (Ioan Gruffudd), will explore a series of remote caverns few have dared to enter.
And when the weather starts getting rough, they soon realize why. A tropical storm sends the water levels soaring, isolating the team in the cavern system with no obvious way out. They can’t leave the way they came in thanks to a series of shifting boulders, and no one knows if where any other exits exist.
They’re trapped.
Audiences may feel similarly confined by the atrocious dialogue.
“He likes to play by his own rules … I’m gonna marry that girl someday … they knew the risks.” It’s enough to give audience members the bends.
The friction between father and son is instantly annoying, and the film’s bumpy beginning augers yet another Man vs. Nature saga that skimps on the former.
Once divers start dying off, the stakes spike and so does the sense of anticipation. Director Alister Grierson is no Cameron – the “Avatar” auteur excels at clear, concise action sequences – but there’s enough claustrophobic moments to keep us engaged. And the film doesn’t skimp on gory details. The horrific sights aren’t exploitative. They’re necessary to delineate just what happens when rules aren’t precisely followed.
“Sanctum” blows a chance to show why adventure seekers do what they do – Frank’s monologue about marriage versus the life of a cave diver just doesn’t cut it. But Roxburgh’s performance is ferocious all the same. We’ll follow him anyway, no matter the odds.
“Sanctum” makes better use of 3-D than most recent films, but too often it’s in the service of some rather one-dimensional storytelling.
(Photo: Richard Roxburgh plays a tougher than nails cave diver trying to save himself and his team in “Sanctum,” a new 3-D adventure. Universal Pictures)
Related posts:
on 
on 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
The Abyss is exactly what Cameron did right with the suspense of diving. It helps to have a few good actors too but at least the dialogue wasn’t cheesy and the story was cool. Maybe Sanctum just needed action and no dialogue? Can producers actually offer that in today’s film?
That would be an interesting way to tell a story these days … and with dialogue like you hear here it would be a plus.
I’m curious as to why this movie was released with an R rating.
It probably would do better at the box office if it was PG-13.
Is the guy that likes to play by his own rules an oft-reprimanded loose-cannon cop on the edge? You know, as his day job?
So. Mr. King O’ the World wants to encourage his fans to get into Cave Diving, a sport somewhat more dangerous than Championship Russian Roulette. It’s a free country.