Sanctum : Movie Review


As you may have heard, Werner Herzog's forthcoming subterranean documentary "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" strives to push 3-D technology in new and more adventurous directions. James Cameron -- or his company, or at least some people he's presumably met -- tries to steal a march on Herzog with the far more conventional 3-D action saga "Sanctum," which could also be titled "The Cave of Aussie Arse-Kickers" or "The Cave of Holy Crap That's a Lot of Water" or "The Cave of I Love You Dad You Impossible Bastard."

In one of those Hollywood marketing gambits that's simultaneously truthful and intended to spread confusion, "Sanctum" is described as a film "from executive producer James Cameron, the creator of 'Titanic' and 'Avatar.'" In some ad copy, the words "executive producer" are omitted, and in all cases they're in teeny little letters. And then there's the fact that nobody knows what an executive producer is or does. I don't just mean that nobody in the general public knows, although that's true; nobody in the movie industry really knows either, except that it almost never describes anyone who played a hands-on role in making a film. Most likely, Cameron served as an investor and consultant to "Sanctum" director Alister Grierson, lending the project his imprimatur, his expertise in underwater photography and his 3-D digital technology.

See www.salon.com for full review

Author : Andrew O'Hehir