Sanctum: An IMAX 3D Experience – Review

I find plenty of assurance in my personal stance that I’ll never go cave exploring. I’m not claustrophobic, but it’s the fact of what plays out in Sanctum that terrifies me: stupidity. These seemingly experts, with all of the tech and “years” of first-hand experience, are nothing more than archetypes for the Dead Teenager genre, a lifeless term Roger Ebert invented to explain teenagers doing stupid stuff that get them killed. Based on screenwriter Andrew Wight’s near-death experience of leading a diving expedition miles into a system of underwater caves, Sanctum showcases a lesson in what not to do in both real-life and in film.

James Cameron’s name is freely thrown around in the advertising, and it’s not just because he executive produced it, but it’s a child of his Avatar 3D technology. Sadly, director Alister Grierson isn’t James Cameron, as this is obvious. His framing of scenes is all off for 3D. Too many foreground images smash the frame together in an odd collision that doesn’t benefit from the low-lit film. Plus, he films Sanctum in a 80% mixture of close-ups and medium shots that don’t do the 3D justice, especially in IMAX. When we get a rare wide angle, the 3D flourishes.

But the 3D is really isn’t the problem, it’s the character (and lack thereof) development and dialogue. I’m sure the real story of Wight’s survival is interesting, the film just isn’t. The tension only comes as a by product to the dilemma: you’re trapped in a cave. Due to stupidity from the character’s actions and reactions, we get a brutal honesty of the calamity, the claustrophobia is real, the pain is to. With odd continuity errors, no sense of place, the film feels rushed and DTV. It’s not without some merits, but it’s few and far in between to fully care. It’s sad to say that about a “true story”, but Sanctum never rises to the surface. It panics and gasps for air.

Rating:

Jon Peters

I love film. That is all.

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