Sanctum (2011)

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I think the worst part of the film is the poor writing, combined with no character development. When things started going south, I barely cared. It was well done. But, it was quite predictable, had little sense of awe and wonder, and fell shot on so many levels. The whole harsh father, and browbeaten son routine has been done hundreds of times, and usually alot better than it was done here. I really had a sense that I lost two hours of my life with this movie. And there was little in the way of a payoff. If these guys were so experienced, and so well funded, how on earth did they find themselves in that situation with a cyclone on the way? What were they thinking? Why take those kinds of risks? I understand the concept of thrill seeking. But within reason, and within a reasonable safety margin. Right? Dumb. Really dumb. The reinvention of the term dumb and dumber.

First thing I sense and think that a movie will be bad is faces of actors and things they talk etc. Here I see Justin Bieber and I know what follows... Fake cool-dude useless dialogs and... laugh. When they laugh loudly at the beginning I know a film is disaster. I had to fast forward. No real story here, no arc, no script, no plot, no character development. Wooden dialogues and water. No but thanks. I'm out of here. Jaws are still a role model for water movies. Thanks Steven-like in Allen's case you made your first movies classics. Later on just no.

An underrated film.Ratings and reviews on this film which I find credible are ones written by people who dive themselves and perhaps know something about cave diving too, people who have seen the film in a proper theatre in 3D and understand this is an action and thriller film, fictive but still based on actual crisis scenarios in cave diving. As such it is one of a kind and very well done as such.In the darkness and sound systems of the theatre my company was very immersed into the whole experience of the film. My son and I were also emotionally moved, especially by the ending scenes because we as diving hobbyists know we might have to face situations with similarity. Situations may become complicated because of diving technicalities and sometimes hard choices have to be made as so many incidents have shown, last case being the finnish cave divers deaths in Norway's Plurdalen 2014.While some review writers complain about characters and character development I think it is irrelevant in this case. "One does not go diving to be engaged in discussions of people's relations and emotional life, even though strong emotions have to be taken into account and can arise while diving. The place for that talk is afterwards, either at the bar or at the funeral gathering", as I've heard someone comment.If you are interested in seeing the film then keep in mind that the movie is not meant to be seen on a TV-screen or in a regular space with lighting and sound not being suitable, so it's just regrettable if one hasn't the chance to see it on the big screen.

For a film that goes so deep underground, Sanctum is a remarkably shallow experience. 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. And you'll probably be able to figure out what order they'll run out of oxygen in as well. 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. 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. That said, there's some eerily beautiful moments of utter horror to be found. 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. Yes, it's clunky. 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. 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.