The Cave Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)September 10th, 2005
THE CAVE
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
THE CAVE, one of the last popcorn movies of the summer, is essentially ALIENS UNDERGROUND sans Sigourney Weaver. A fun film, it turns out to be smarter than you'd expect. The best part of the picture is that it takes place in a couple of locales -- spelunking in a cave and diving underwater -- that we don't normally go when we are at the movies, unless it's a nature documentary. Sure there are counterexamples, but the terrain is still basically fresh and doesn't feel like every other science fiction thriller that you've seen recently.
The story starts thirty years ago when some treasure hunters are in Romania exploring a cave which has long been hidden by a now abandoned church. They do not return above ground. Something bad is happening deep down below, and we don't know exactly what it is.
We cut to the present time when the cave has been rediscovered. Jack (Cole Hauser) leads the world's most capable and daring team of cave explorers and divers. Other members of his crew include his brother Tyler (Eddie Cibrian), the cautious Buchanan (Morris Chestnut), the hotshot Briggs (Rick Ravanello) and the girl Charlie (Piper Perabo). All total about a dozen people swim a distance of three miles where they end up trapped one mile underground, so they have to find a new way out. They also find that they are somewhere in -- but certainly not at the top of -- a food chain of a newly discovered ecosystem of underground killers.
The beauty of the script by Michael Steinberg and Tegan West is that they have the good sense to very slowly introduce us to their monster world. We don't get our first glimpse of the hideous creatures until well into movie, and, even then, they come slowly at first, with the lowest members of the food chain appearing first. The worst part of the script is the dialog, which isn't pretty. Toasting the "virgin cave" and a warning to "respect the cave" are typical of its inanities.
Although it's about 10 minutes too long, the story keeps us engaged and fascinated with the battle of the humans vs. the unnamed creatures. Only the very last scene disappoints because it shows that the sequel has been designed in such a way that it will lose all the best parts of the original.
THE CAVE runs 1:37. It is rated PG-13 for "intense creature violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 12 and up.
My son Jeffrey, age 16, gave it ****. He loved the way it took you to such visually interesting places, and he liked the concept, especially the wide variety of the creatures. His girlfriend Yasmin, also 16, gave it *** 1/2. She liked the really cool setup and the way it made you wonder about caves. Their friend Stacy, also 16, gave it *** 1/2. Although she obsessed about telling us how much she absolutely hated the setup for the sequel, she liked everything else about the movie, especially the creatures and the way the movie made you jump.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States.
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