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“Sanctum” offers artful splendor and masterful 3D underwater filmmaking, but not much else.
What the film lacks in plot, it compensates for in a fantastic 3D experience. If the actors were given much less time to chat and the plot left out to some wildly wacky plot twists, “Sanctum” would have been a near-perfect 3D adventure.
Richard Roxburgh plays as diver and underwater cave explorer Frank, team leader of an expedition through the south Pacific’s Esa-ala Caves. His son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) tags along as an experienced climber, along with the group’s financier Carl (Ioan Gruffud of “Fantastic Four”) and Carl’s wife Victoria (Alice Parkinson).
A few others help provide support for the overall objective of mapping a route to the sea via the caves. But when a massive storm comes in, the group is trapped underground in flooding caves.
The basic story of survival is a very cool idea; watching a small group of expert cave explorers pit their survival against nature, especially a part of nature that very few get to experience, is promising. However, the film focuses on the emotions of the characters, and that quickly ruins the movie.
The dialogue is cheesy. The acting is surprisingly not the main culprit, but the characters are often caught saying the least inspiring quotes possible in every part of the movie. It gets worse when Carl spontaneously becomes an antagonist and people start dying in gruesome climbing accidents.
However, this movie is recommended for the sole reason that the cave exploration is breathtaking, especially in 3D. When the actors are not saying something funny (when they are trying to be serious), watching a few people with nothing other than dying headlamps, flashlights and small portions of snacks to energize them through Earth’s basement, is a great sight.
In fact, some of the action sequences are brilliant. The best ones include scuba divers getting lost in dark waters where they cannot see where they are going. Air becomes an infrequent gift in these hair-raising scenes.
The action falls flat when the survivors start turning on each other. Teamwork is a motif that would have worked in this movie; instead, relationships are tense. The relations between the characters, similar to the dialogue, are laugh-out-loud ridiculous in several instances.
The best performance comes from Richard Roxburgh. His hoarse voice and knack for making difficult decisions elevates him from the others. He belongs in a dangerous cave.
“Sanctum” is worth the 3D experience, but should be seen only in theaters.
