A team including a father and son and their financier go diving in an unexplored cave system in Papua New Guinea. When one of the divers dies after her gear malfunctions, the team races towards the exit which they see has been blocked by flash floods. Now they must find another way out through the labyrinthine cave system while battling the treacherous hurdles in their way as well as each other. Produced by James Cameron and directed by Alister Grierson, Sanctum is like other Cameron productions in that it is strong on visuals and weak on characterizations and scripting. The screenplay is by the numbers, characters are standard, and the actors are wooden. Although there are some breathtaking exterior shots early in the film, the cave scenes are murky and make it hard to discern what is happening. Having seen it on Blu-ray I can only imagine how dark and muddled the movie must have been in 3D. Despite its weakness though, I did kind of enjoy the movie for what it is, a simple old-fashioned adventure flick.
