Sanctum

Suffering Succotash - Sanctum Sinks with Semi Satisfying Story
Sanctum, R, *1/2, Rhys Wakefield, Christoper Baker, Allison Cratchley, Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Parkinson. Universal film. Director Alister Grierson. Length 109 minutes.

“Sanctum” is inspired by a true story. It is an adventure story set in modern times with lame dialogue that takes place in an underwater cave. The movie appealed to me because of the scuba diving and exploring uncharted venues.
The adventure takes place in the Esa-ala Caves of Papua New Guinea. The cave is one of the largest in the world. A team of adventurers are in the cave gathering data. Because of a pending storm, the expedition is going to be canceled. Unfortunately, the storm hits before everyone gets out of the cave. Now the team must follow the trail of the water in order to find an exit. The surface water drains into the ocean. Finding the exit turns out to be a very difficult, dangerous, and deadly, journey.
The excursion involves climbing, walking, and diving in underwater caves to find a way to sunlight. It becomes one horrible journey into the abyss.
The audience views some very beautiful sites in the cave along with extremely treacherous events. Stalagmites and stalactites are shown throughout the movie. Tight squeezes through small caves might make the audience a little queasy.
Having obtained my scuba diving certificate a few years ago, I was interested in how this movie was filmed. I remember telling my diving instructor that it is not natural breathing underwater. However, once the technique is learned and one becomes comfortable, it is an exciting hobby.
Now, I am a little claustrophobic so the scenes crawling through small caves are sometimes a little to real. I remember in Heber Springs, Arkansas diving underneath a portion of land. I decided to get out of that in a hurry.
The movie demonstrates the ability to breathe underwater without the mouthpiece. We leaned that maneuver in the diving class. Just turn the air on at the tank, and it creates a pocket of oxygen in the water. Just breathe through the air pocket. The movie even shows how one can breathe through the porous parts of limestone.
Adventure in an underwater cave is not for everyone as is demonstrated throughout this movie. Frank (Richard Roxburgh) is the person in charge of everyone trapped in the cave. He has to take control and attempt to lead everyone through the cave to safety. Frank is one tough hombre. He knows what it takes to survive and sometimes his methods are unorthodox and extreme. But surviving is about the strongest.
Josh ((Rhys Wakefield) is Frank’s son. Father and son do not have a great relationship. However, sometimes tragedy and difficult times can bring a family together. Frank has to use some very extreme methods to try and keep his team alive.
The dialogue is weak, and the acting is lame. However, parts of the movie shows the cruel elements about what has to be done in order to keep some of the team living. One of the more intelligent scenes of the movie involves father and son discussing the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coolidge. Coolidge and Mary Shelley were friends. Of course, Shelley wrote the book Frankenstein.
In “Sanctum” Frank may have traits of the monster in book Frankenstein. However, we know that the monster was not all bad.
The audience observes euthanasia being used frequently. This is hard to watch. Frank seems to justify his methods in order to relieve suffering and help the whole team. The phrase, “Only the strong survive” rings true in this dark look at a journey to stay alive.
The overall story is disappointing, because of the acting and script. Incidentally, I did not see it in 3-D so I cannot comment on that.