Praise for “Sanctum” cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin, who offers breathtaking footage of lush rainforests, deep caverns and a multitude of awe-inspiring views into the natural world. If you are a nature lover or an adventure seeker, this movie will take you
Praise for “Sanctum” cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin, who offers breathtaking footage of lush rainforests, deep caverns and a multitude of awe-inspiring views into the natural world. If you are a nature lover or an adventure seeker, this movie will take you to places you’ll appreciate.
Executive produced by James Cameron and directed by Alister Grierson, “Sanctum” is the story of master cave explorer Frank McGuire (Richard Roxburgh) and his crew’s expedition-turned-survival-experience through a million year old cave in Papua, New Guinea.
Okay, let’s break this one down into two parts: This is due to a striking dichotomy between the movie’s high and low points.
Part 1: High points. Focus on the beauty of the cave. Earthen shades of terracotta illuminate and mesmerize as labyrinth upon labyrinth of cave is unveiled. Truly, nature is inspiring. Marvel at the climbing scenes. Appreciate the thrilling, action oriented moments of the film.
If you ignore some weak dialogue during the opening scene and focus instead on its 3-D like mapping technology and the film’s epic helicopter trip, you’re in for quite a ride.
It feels like an IMAX experience as the cinematography exposes dramatic views above vast forests, winds through pristine rivers, and hovers atop a wide-mouthed cave entrance.
McGuire’s financial supporter, Carl (Ioan Gruffudd) and his girlfriend, Victoria (Alice Parkinson) travel alongside McGuire’s son, Josh (Rhys Wakefield) as they seek to meet up with McGuire regarding the cave expedition. They do this via rappelling and parachuting down a thousand foot drop into the cave.
Enter the cave. Here, it looks like a National Geographic mission as the cave is laden with outdoor equipment for McGuire and his crew. “Sanctum” is ‘based’ on the true story of Australian cave explorer, noteworthy diver and co-writer of the film, Andrew Wright. This explains the extensive gear featured, primarily diving and climbing supplies.
Part 2: The low points. Sadly, the film’s outrageously beautiful cinematography, impressive climbing scenes and crystal clear underwater scenes are contrasted sharply with a poorly written script, redundant death scenes and unconvincing performances by most of its cast.
It all starts with the unlikely fate of McGuire’s fellow diver, Judes (Allison Cratchley). Judes is running on little sleep and still chooses to accompany McGuire on a dive through unexplored portions of the cave.
Ultimately, despite a heroic effort on McGuire’s part to buddy breathe with Judes after a leak is noticed in her scuba line, she panics and drowns. Mind you, this is all being witnessed by McGuire’s above-water crew via live video footage. Can you imagine?
Josh accuses McGuire of killing Judes. This type of emotional outburst and disrespect for his father plays out through most of the movie until the tides suddenly change when a crisis erupts. Now Josh acts upon his primal urge to warn his father of coming danger.
Blood-pumping action scenes then take place as everyone left in the cave struggles to survive. During the height of the drama, McGuire is forced to decide whether to euthanize one of his crew members, by drowning, after he sustained severe injuries with no possibility of a rescue. Josh and McGuire eventually need to rely on one another to survive pending doom and a wild card experience with McGuire’s financier, Carl.
This is a survival story that starts off beautifully thrilling and ends up disappointing. Perhaps that is the nature of adventure-turned-tragedy. Though credit must be given for the film’s ability to ask viewers how tough they are mentally, and what they would do in similar circumstances, “Sanctum” fails to reach its potential.
