January and February in the States then, tend to be a dumping ground for less attractive cinematic propositions, which, typically, get a simultaneous release in the UK. See The Green Hornet or The Mechanic, for instance. However, what you have in the James Cameron produced thriller-stroke-drama Sanctum, is a crossover between both- a horrific journey through an uncharted cave system, in which a motley crew of adventurers are trapped when it begins to flood.
Here was me thinking that the whole point of nu-3D was to add depth to an image. That's what the industry hobnobs say, with complete disregard for all that black-and-white old-timey stuff that Orson Welles was doing all the way back when Citizen Kane was made. But now this one comes around, and as the premise would suggest, the setting is meant to be claustrophobic. That is the main source of tension- this is after all, a thriller. Therefore, the 3D doesn't work, in precisely the same way as Buried wouldn't have worked if it were in 3D.
Namely, we're supposed to believe that our heroes can't fit through this tiny squeeze between hulking masses of rock, all while underwater and running out of air. But if 3D puts you there, in the film, then there's obviously enough room for you, and for a whole room full of cinemagoers. It's facetious to judge a film on 3D's terms, but I think it illustrates a point that needed to be made, post-Avatar. Just because James Cameron is a better filmmaker than almost everyone else using 3D, it doesn't mean he can make 3D any better than it actually is.
Richard Roxburgh breaks type, in a way, by playing the gruff cave-diving veteran Frank, but there's a weird thing about the way his character plays into things. Although James Cameron ostensibly just produced this thing, the script is full of tics like characters explaining things over and over again. How that manifests itself is usually via everyone ignoring Frank's advice. And whenever that happens, the death toll goes up. It's like a super big-budget and decidedly more soggy version of one of those grisly public information films that went out in Britain during the 1970s.
So I suppose if you're paying enough attention, you'll at least figure out what not to do when you go into the world's deepest uncharted cave system to explore, and end up getting stranded in a hole that's slowly filling up with water. That would be some comfort if I ever had the inclination to go diving. And yet I still have much more common sense than many of the supposedly experienced adventurers who resolutely ignore Frank- it's particularly annoying with Ioan Grufford's billionaire wussy and Alice Parkinson, his girlfriend. Don't forget though, we're told it's a true story before the film even starts, so at least one of these people is getting out of there.
Ultimately, the 3D is an albatross around the film's neck, keeping the film submerged in gloom, when it could have soared to terrifying heights.
Sanctum is now showing in 3D at cinemas nationwide.
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If you've seen Sanctum, why not share your comments below?
I'm Mark the mad prophet, and until next time, don't watch anything I wouldn't watch.
