Sanctum Reviews

Many times over the years, we have seen films involving underwater adventures jumbled with disasters and chaos along the way from the likes of The Abyss, The Poseidon Adventure, it's remake Poseidon, possibly Titanic amongst others. It is safe to say that these films perhaps aren't for the faint hearted and definitely aren't the greatest kinds of films to have been made. However, the fact that the film had been filmed and scheduled for release in 3D actually made the 3D not seem pointless for a change since Avatar's release in December 2009.


The film itself has a very corny and predictable dialogue, but the 3D experience would have been beyond words! Being one who never actually saw it in 3D or at the cinema, I now take it with deep regret that I hadn't considered seeing Sanctum in 3D whether it was going to be a good film or not. The cinematography was just magnificent! Although it probably won't gain any recognition, the film does deserve an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinematography. It is an impressive film to see if you're a deep admirer of photography and nature, so that at the same time makes it a beautiful film too.


Although the filming of Sanctum was just fantastic, not in a long time has there been a more plain, empty and soulless ensemble cast in a film. The reason why the characters just weren't interesting was that you just do not feel hardly anything for them in their situation and they just lack understanding the idea that they are in a lot of trouble. Ioan Gruffudd was the only actor in the film that I was familiar with. Although he has never been a solid actor and that his performance in Sanctum wasn't all that great as predicted, but he was at least convincing enough to take seriously.


Richard Roxburgh unfortunately was a lame leading actor as the group leader, Frank. He was a confusing character because on one side, he was a bitter cold-hearted old man yet he became a big softy father. That is what this situation in the caves turned him into. Rhys Wakefield as Josh became one of the instantly dislikeable characters you could possibly watch in a film, and for that reason, he just needed to be killed off. There was just nothing there, no courage to get out, no emotional bond between him and his father Frank and just no bond with any of the other characters.


Obviously, everybody watching this will completely abandon the directorí Alister Grieson's work and focus on James Cameron's involvement as one of the producers in Sanctum. This is a typical film that James Cameron would be associated with, and you can tell that he was part of it due to the filming. Having said that he wasn't actually the director of the film, the filming style was just like in The Abyss; apart from the improved technological effects. Alister Grieson is one of those directors who nobody had even heard of before, but will now after working alongside one of the greatest filmmakers of our time. Having said that he was actually the director, I'm not entirely sure he could have pulled it off as a success without Cameron's help. In the majority of weak stories, there is clearly going to be a weak screenplay added into the mixture. So, there wasn't any surprises about the weak script, but one specific section of the script that was really shocking was the last line in the very rushed ending. It's beyond me how that can still be kept as part of the script after such a magnificent production process!


Overall, Sanctum is admittedly a deeply-flawed film, but cannot help but still find an entertaining film to go ahead and enjoy. Therefore, it is one of those rare films where you just need to ignore the flaws and just have some fun and get as much entertainment from it as possible, especially in 3D and blu-ray. If there is anything that Sanctum has taught us about 3D, it is that it only looks good when a film is filmed in 3D and having a lot of close-up shots and colourful visual backgrounds. Hopefully, this film has taught a valuable lesson to other directors willing to convert 2D films into 3D, and won't be seeing many of them again in the upcoming future.

المعتكَف (دراما، حركة، مغامرات) (الولايات المتحدة، استراليا: 2011) (5:1)

الملخص: يَتْابع فريق من الغوّاصين رحلة للكهف الأكبرِ والأكثر جمالاً على الاطلاق. وعندما تهب عاصفة استوائية تُجبرُهم للنزول الى عُمقَ الكهفِ، وعليهم مقاومة الماءَ الهائجَ، والتضاريس المرعبة بينما يَبْحثونَ عن طريقِ للهروبِ إلى البحرِ.



وعندما يقطع طريق الخروج، فان الفريق يضطر، بما في ذلك الغواص (فرانك مكغواير: ريتشارد روكسبيرغه) مكتشف الكهف جنوب المحيط الهادئ و(فرانك جوش: رايز ويكيفيلد) ابن 17 عاما والممول (هيرلي كارل: اوان غروفود) لتغيير الخطة بشكل جذري. ومع تقلص الامدادات، يجب على الطاقم التنقل عبر متاهة تحت الماء للخروج.

النقد: للأسف يأتي هذا العمل والذي احيط بهالة اعلامية كبيرة بسبب وقوف المخرج والمنتج (جيمس كاميرون) خلفه بهذا الشكل السلبي، فليس هناك ما يثير فعلا في مغامرة هذا الفريق البحثي، ما عدا اللهم تسابقهم واحد تلو الاخر للبقاء احياء على حساب زملائهم، وكان المخرج يحاول نقل الحياة بما فيها من سلبيات الى داخل هذا الكهف متناسيا بالتأكيد الايجابيات.



وعلى الرغم من تسابق هكذا نوعية من الافلام في خلق حالة من التجاذب مع مشاهديه الا انه جاء منفرا ومن اللحظة الاولى، فغياب اللمسات الاخراجية المبهرة وضعف الدراما فيه جعلته اشبه بفيلم وثائقي يؤكز على رحلة هذا الفريق من دون ايصال أي احساس بعظم هذه المهمة.

The special effects were good but everything else was awful. For starters the acting was terrible and the characters were boring and uninteresting especially that girl who was extremely annoying and the whole movie I kept yelling "just die already!" SPOILER SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!! When she did die I was so satisfied and happy!!

The dialogue was another problem, it was so stupid. Half of the lines that came out of the characters made no sense and were completely unnecessary. Plus at some points in the beginning of the movie it tried to be funny but it wasn't because the jokes were so dumb. The story is based on a true story but it's so horribly told here. It was uninteresting and the pacing was terrible. I know I've been saying a lot of negative things about this movie but there are some positives. The effects are wonderful and it's nicely shot. There was some scenes that were laughably bad too like the end, SPOILER SKIP TO NEXT PARAGRAPH!!!!!!!! where the father is dying and the son has to drown him holy crap that scene was bad. The father kept saying "Help me" while the son was crying and holding his father in his arms. Instead of trying to make this an emotional scene it was laughable it took 5 minutes for him to do it and the acting was so bad during this scene I just kept yelling at the screen, "Just do it already!".

This movie had potential given its source material but it squandered it, visually no but everything else yes. The story was horribly told, the acting was awful, the dialogue was stupid, and the characters were boring, annoying and uninteresting.

"This cave will kill you in a heartbeat."

If done right, a "man versus nature" disaster picture can effectively get the pulse pounding. Couple the sheer implacability of the antagonist with the difficulties of survival and a situation that's direr than that of a traditional thriller, and the result is usually an involving feature. 2011's Sanctum is a serviceable instance of an effective disaster movie in which the nail-biting set-pieces and technical competency outweighs the clumsy scripting and wooden acting. For the advertising campaign, James Cameron's name has been touted a lot despite merely serving as an executive producer. Though he's the focal point of the marketing campaign, it's unclear how much creative input Cameron actually had beyond lending his 3-D technology to the project. Sure, it's the type of story he would go for, but it's doubtful Cameron had much influence. After all, it's not three hours long and there's not a great deal of heart or emotion behind the material.

Sanctum is loosely based on an experience which befell co-screenwriter (and occasional James Cameron collaborator) Andrew Wight. Looking to explore one of the last unmolested areas of the world, no-nonsense expert spelunker Frank (Roxburgh) and his team have set up base camp at a Papua New Guinea cave system. Thrill-seeking playboy Carl (Gruffudd) is the one funding the operation, as he is looking to make his exploratory mark. Overworked and tired, Frank is joined on the last leg of his research by Carl himself, as well as Frank's son Josh (Wakefield) and Carl's inexperienced girlfriend Victoria (Parkinson). However, a bad storm hits the area and turns into a hurricane, and the rushing waters trap a number of assorted individuals within the treacherous, unexplored bowels of the cave. With the cave rapidly flooding, the group have no choice but to push forward in the hopes of finding another way to reach the surface.

Is it possible for a movie to overcome a lousy screenplay if it is otherwise an effective, technically proficient motion picture? In the case of Sanctum, the answer is yes. Sanctum's dramatic elements are consistently weak, with conventional, shallow characters, disaster film clichés, and predictable character relationships. The friction between Josh and Frank is constantly formulaic, and follows a generic path to a predictable conclusion. Likewise, the conflict between Frank and Carl (i.e. between the grizzled veteran and the inexperienced rich outsider) is predictable and usually ineffective. Clichés do not always instantly mean fail, but there's absolutely no depth to these stereotypical individuals, and, aside from Frank, the characterisations are stale and boring. Also, the dialogue is constantly on-the-nose and at times dangerously cheesy. It may be possible to like the characters due to surface-level attributes, but the disaster genre needs something more.

Yet, Sanctum looks gorgeous. Whether above or below the water, director Alister Grierson and cinematographer Jules O'Loughlin managed to capture some astonishing images of natural beauty. Whatever line exists between manufactured sound stages and authentic locations is imperceptible, and the authenticity of the proceedings will augment a viewer's claustrophobic apprehension. Additionally, when the characters close their mouths to allow for Grierson to get down to business with the action set-pieces, Sanctum positively comes alive. Consistently nail-biting, the central premise was ripe for tension-filled moments, and the film does not disappoint. Grierson was able to earn a lot of mileage from milking the riveting, unbearably intense predicaments the characters face. The sense of danger and urgency rarely relents, even when the end is ostensibly in sight. The pulse-pounding, atmospheric score by David Hirschfelder also amplifies the intensity. Added to this, Sanctum is an R-rated film which is not gory for the sake of exploitation but instead for the sake of realism. For once, the vision of a filmmaker has not been compromised to draw in a bigger audience with a family-friendly PG-13 rating.

As previously discussed, the marketing for Sanctum emphasises James Cameron's fingerprints on the project to siphon off the magic dust which was left behind by Avatar. Admittedly, it's a clever way to entice audiences, but it would seem Cameron had little to do with the movie - Sanctum is just an Aussie disaster movie with an influential fairy godmother. Of course, being yet another 3-D venture, the big question on everyone's minds is whether the extra dimension is worth it. Luckily, the film was not subjected to a quick post-production conversion, but was instead shot in 3-D, and it shows. The 3-D effects are not perfect, but they are impressive, not to mention a decent fit for the movie as it affords a sense of depth to the dense cave system. Plus, the dimness associated with 3-D is not much of a problem since Sanctum is a naturally dark motion picture. Nevertheless, the gimmick is inessential, and it's hardly worth the extra money.

The cast is a mixed bag. On the one hand, Richard Roxburgh (Moulin Rouge!) is effective as the badass, tough-as-nails Frank. From beginning to end, Roxburgh is focused and convincing, and he's a terrific tough guy who's somewhat reminiscent of Stephen Lang's Colonel Quatrich from Avatar. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Gruffudd played his playboy millionaire role with the temperament of a school bully and an unconvincing American accent. It would appear that Carl was modelled after Paul Reiser's role in James Cameron's Aliens, but Gruffudd is no Paul Reiser. All the rest of the stars seem like acting school dropouts for all the believability they bring to their roles.

From a purely technical standpoint, the ability to create an intense underwater picture of this sort in 3-D is commendable in itself. Fortunately, despite its shortcomings, the final product is both technically adept and a fine addition to the "man vs. nature" adventure genre. There are so many action-adventure movies released every year, but so few of them can generate any genuine excitement or tension. Therefore when a movie manages this, it's worth recommending. Sanctum is too wobbly in its foundation to be considered great, but it is well-crafted and impressively executed. Plus, beyond its value as a piece of popcorn-selling entertainment, Sanctum represents a marker for where the Aussie film industry is hopefully heading. It is indeed exciting to see Aussie filmmakers capably standing alongside their Hollywood counterparts.

6.8/10

[SPOILERS]
Filme chato, manjado, cheio de clichês como o cara moreno, o mexicano, a gostosa e o ricão morrerem, o 3D não vinga (na verdade, pessoalmente, odeio 3D) e além de tudo é longo. A história inova um pouco por ser numa caverna, mas na verdade é tudo a mesma sequência de aventuras e sustos bobos. Não gaste seu dinheiro.