- 7
A B movie in the best sense, Sanctum -- executive produced by James Cameron -- is a lean, clear-headed 3-D thriller that knows exactly where it's headed from the moment its adrenaline junkie explorers dive into the world's biggest cave in Papua New Guinea.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 6
...a subterranean survival epic that expertly tightens the screws even as one wishes it would keep a tighter mouth-clamp on its increasingly whiny characters.
—Justin Chang Variety
- 6
...while Sanctum is frustratingly familiar, it's easy to get caught up in the action.
—Tasha Robinson Onion AV Club
- 6
...s technically impressive, but most of the better aspects of Sanctum would be almost ? maybe exactly ? as effective viewed the old-fashioned way.
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 5
...Sanctum's make-it-out-alive adventure is lamely jazzed up by the 3D format.
—Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine
- 5
Here and there an image of spectral beauty, assisted by the 3-D technology, floats into view and captures our imagination. But the script, which really should've been called Sanctimonium, has a serious case of the bends.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 5
Here and there an image of spectral beauty, assisted by the 3-D technology, floats into view and captures our imagination. But the script, which really should've been called Sanctimonium, has a serious case of the bends.
—Michael Phillips Los Angeles Times
- 4
Instead of exploring the claustrophobic impossibilities of struggling blindly through an endless world of darkness and water, he lets the lousy mechanical screenplay by John Gavin ruin things. There's so much potential here that when the script settles in for its "dilemma, then death" plot pattern, we grow angry, then irritated, then bored.
—Bill Gibron filmcritic.com
- 4
I wonder if people will go to Sanctum thinking the James Cameron name is a guarantee of high-quality 3-D. Here is a movie that can only harm the reputations of Cameron and 3-D itself.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 4
You can't just play mad libs with the terms "James Cameron," "underwater," and "3-D," and expect automatic Titanic. There kinda has to be a good story and passable acting involved, and this is where Sanctum... sucks it.
—Luke Y. Thompson E!
- 4
...I'm not sure that the movie's second-rate drama, or its shards of manly philosophy, come anywhere close to justifying the arduous and frequently graphic violence of the journey. Will any of these people ever see daylight again? And is it worth leaving your couch to find out? It would be dishonorable to answer those questions, and anyway the second one is entirely subjective. How comfy is your couch?
—Andrew O'Hehir Salon
- 4
Soggy theatrics render this gorgeously-shot underwater 3D excursion more shrill than thrilling.
—Michael Rechtshaffen Hollywood Reporter
- 4
Ultimately, the plot-point overload dilutes any palpable sense of dread, excitement or empathy, and it doesn't help that all the dialogue acts in service to either patronizing exposition or turgid interpersonal drama...
—Aaron Hillis LA Weekly
- 4
Ultimately, the plot-point overload dilutes any palpable sense of dread, excitement or empathy, and it doesn't help that all the dialogue acts in service to either patronizing exposition or turgid interpersonal drama...
—Aaron Hillis Village Voice
- 4
?Why?? someone demands after another disaster in the 3-D grotty grotto adventure Sanctum.??Why caves?? Wait a minute, I think that might have been me, though given one of the executive producers of this souped-up B movie, the question should have been: ?Why, James Cameron, why??
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 4
...turns out to be as gripping as plankton.
—Kyle Smith New York Post
- 3
A documentary on the formation of stalagmites would have been more compelling.
—Claudia Puig USA Today