From: Lucas Peerman <[email protected]>
Date: February 1, 2011 3:59:59 PM MST
To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Subject: "Sanctum" review
Review: Spelunkers dive (and die) in ‘Sanctum’
Eds: Film opens Friday.
AP Photo NYET305, NYET304, NYET303
By JAKE COYLE
AP Entertainment Writer
In the low-budget 3-D cave-diving adventure “Sanctum,” a little bit
of rain
causes a lot of death — by accident, murder and a bizarre amount of
assisted
suicide.
Who needs those chipper Chilean miners, anyway?
Eschewing such heartwarming tales, “Sanctum,” directed by
Australian Alister
Grierson and produced by 3-D guru James Cameron, is more interested
in the
savage realities of survival.
A large expedition headed by grizzled Aussie explorer Frank McGuire
(Richard
Roxburgh) is knee-deep in mapping the mile-deep Esa’ala Caves of
Papua New
Guinea. Frank’s less ambitious 17-year-old son, Josh (Rhys
Wakefield), along
with the team’s financier daredevil Carl (Ioan Gruffudd) and his
equally
gung-ho girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson), have just arrived.
Set deep in the jungle, the mouth of the expansive cave system
(actually
shot in Australia) is enormous and cylindrical. You half expect the
Millennium Falcon of “Star Wars” to come shooting out with a giant
worm in
close pursuit.
In the complex labyrinth of cavernous chambers and underground rivers
beneath the surface, the danger is less alien. Maneuvering by scuba
through
underwater crevices as tight as those of “127 Hours,” Frank’s
mantra is that
“panic is the enemy.”
A storm is known to be approaching, but deep underground, they’re
somehow
still caught unprepared when the storm develops into a cyclone, thus
promising a life-threatening deluge in the caves.
Taking charge is Frank, a cold fish, indeed. “There’s no God down
here,” he
snaps at one moment with face hardened. Elsewhere, there’s: “There
are no
rescue missions down here, only body recoveries!”
Everyone questions his harsh leadership (particularly his more
kindhearted
son), but Frank is gradually borne out. He may be gruff, but he
knows caves
and the limitations of what can be accomplished.
Those locked underground follow him, looking for the exit to the
sea. The
survivors are winnowed until — true to the tradition of so many
such films —
women and nonwhites are gradually dispatched. Some exit like “Willy
Wonka”
characters, neatly ruined by their foolhardiness.
A claustrophobia takes hold as they make their way from one chamber
to the
next, squeaking through the rock and water. Many of the set pieces
in the
cave system and the underwater shots are beautiful, but the lack of
variation begins to feel like the recent film “Buried,” which takes
place
entirely in a coffin.
“Sanctum” is clearly in line with Cameron’s adoration of subsurface
exploration, a love affair at least since “The Abyss.” “Sanctum” is
meant to
prove that the 3-D technology developed for his “Avatar” can be
inexpensively adapted to simple genre films.
As a showcase for 3-D, “Sanctum” is a failure. The depth of the
images adds
little to the experience, and for most of the middle of the film, is
entirely forgotten. The darkness of the caves, at least, suits the
darkened
image of 3-D.
Written by John Garvin and caver Andrew Wight, “Sanctum” claims to be
“inspired by a true story.” The basis, though, is a cave trip by
Wight where
a perilous storm nevertheless ended in all 15 surviving.
The film at least avoids that romantic lie of so many survivalist
movies,
that you can make it against all odds. “Sanctum” allows that
heroism has its
limits and that death must be accepted.
Jack Kevorkian would love it.
“Sanctum,” a Universal Pictures release, is rated R for language, some
violence and disturbing images. Running time: 109 minutes. One and
a half
stars out of four.
———
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G — General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG — Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable
for
children.
PG-13 — Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children
under 13.
Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R — Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult
guardian.
NC-17 — No one under 17 admitted.
