Sanctum

It is not often that Australia gets some patronage from a big time film director. But 'King Of The World' James Cameron has decided to lend a helping hand to his Aussie adventure story.

It seems that James Cameron's influence on the film extends to not only letting us use his groundbreaking 3D technology but also his skill as a film writer. The first 20 minutes of the the film is quite excruciating and awful. We learn about the characters and they fit pretty much the mould of all disaster films. They also speak some of the most corny and cliched dialogue you are ever likely to hear. It is not until they get trapped in the cave that the story takes off. Mostly because the characters are at the mercy of the elements so they have less of a chance of being themselves. Which after how they are established at the beginning you wouldn't want to spend time with them. It is an excellent story of endurance and the courage these people had to survive. The 3D helps adds a certain amount of extra claustrophobia of the situation. These people had to crawl through some pretty tight spots in places you would never get me into. This helps make the film just that little bit more thrilling. The only other problem is that the deaths are quite predictable as well. You know the death list from quite an early stage.

Richard Roxburgh is one of Australia's best actors who does not seem to have cracked the big time in Hollywood like some of his pals. He proves here that he can handle the action hero role really well. He is by far and away the best performance in the film. As the token Hollywood actor in the film, Ioan Gruffudd is your stock standard rich guy who take unnecessary risks. I think Ioan deserves better as he has proven in earlier roles. I can see this as the being the film to get Rhys Wakefield noticed in Hollywood. He proves he can be a young action hero successfully. I was in hysterics over a cameo appearance by an Aussie comedian at the beginning of the film.

If you can get through the cliched and corny opening then you are in for a really exciting thrill ride with this action/adventure film. Make sure you see it in 3D for that little bit of added effect.