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reception of mainstream critics to the horror film
"The Cave" is exactly the reason why
films like this have managed to survive purely on
customers who frequent direct-to-video bins and
cable networks. Guys like Roger Ebert simply have
no understanding of what makes a movie like
"The Cave" worthwhile; their sphere of
cinematic knowledge begins and ends with
Spielberg, Goddard, and Bergman, and a film like
this is beyond their comprehension. That's not to
say "The Cave" is a masterwork of
filmmaking, because it's not. Nevertheless, it's
nowhere as bad as critics make it out to be, as
it's a fast-paced and thrilling Creature Feature,
and nothing more or less.
The film stars Cole Hauser
(last seen fighting soul-destroying cameramen in
"Paparazzi",
and before that, flesh-eating monsters in "Pitch
Black"), as Jack, the leader of a cave
diving team that includes little brother Tyler
("Third Watch's" Eddie Cibrian),
right-hand man Top (Morris Chestnut, "Anacondas"),
and Tomboy Charlie (Piper Perabo). When the team
is called upon to explore a previously unknown
system of caves many miles underground, they find
themselves trapped, and become prey to creatures
that lives within the darkness. Matters are made
worst when Jack, upon his first encounter with the
creatures, becomes infected, a bad bit of news
since he's the group's best chance of getting out
alive…
Although it's very much a
Creature Feature, with all the conventions of the
genre firmly in place and advanced, "The
Cave" does have an ace in the hole -- it's
cave setting, which makes for, if nothing else, a
novel location for the genre. Directed by Bruce
Hunt, the underwater and cave sequences, which
make up nearly 95% of the movie, are outstanding.
No doubt the (appropriate) darkness of the cave
helps to hide the CGI creatures, but it also makes
for a stimulating chase as the creatures hunt the
humans through caves, underwater tunnels, and
towering, cavernous walls.
Make no mistake, "The
Cave" isn't going to win any Oscars, but it
does what it does very well, and those coming into
the film expecting more simply had no idea what
they were getting into. The cast of characters are
all predictably one-dimensional, possessing
singular personalities, but that's to be expected.
The large cast is simply present to be munched on,
and Hunt and his creature effects people go for
blink-and-you'll-miss editing of the creature
action until the last few minutes, when we get to
see the winged killers in all their gooey, fleshy
splendor. Aided in no small part by the film's
overwhelming darkness, the CGI creatures don't
actually look all that bad, and fits in nicely
with the cramp surroundings and the movie's
overall shadowy appearance.
Although the budget for
"The Cave" couldn't have been that high,
you wouldn't know it from the look. Setting the
action in a series of caves didn't just make
"The Cave's" locale novel, but it also
affords Hunt to shoot some nice scenery. To be
sure, Hunt never fully utilizes the twists and
turns and crampness of the caves to its full
claustrophobic effect, but this is more the fault
of the fast pace than anything else. The movie
moves at such a quick clip that you never really
have time to catch your breath or notice the
surroundings. The creatures strike fairly early
and often, but to the film's detriment, the gore
is almost non-existent, which is a shame as this
alone might have elevate "The Cave"
beyond being slightly above average for the genre.
I've always liked Cole Hauser
as a leading man, and thought his character in
"Pitch Black" was really what made that
sci-fi film work, and not the starring turn by Vin
Diesel which everyone grappled onto. Admittedly,
Hauser's career as a leading man hasn't really
taken off, first starring in the much-derided
"Paparazzi" (which I kind of liked), and
now the equally much-derided "The Cave".
Hauser does a good job here, but like the rest of
the cast, his character is one-note, and it's of
the "take it or leave it" variety. Which
is one of the film's major problems: it just
doesn't have any memorable characters, and after a
while you begin to wonder if they were all written
as this one-dimensional, or if a big chunk of the
film had been chopped off before the action moved
into the caves.
For a Creature Feature,
"The Cave" is not such a bad offering.
Fans of the genre should find more than enough
about the film to enjoy, as it offers a credible
bodycount and a rather delightful "they'll
probably all die" vibe about it. Bruce Hunt
drops the ball by not delivering on the gore, but
does compensate with a fast pace that gets right
to the heart of the matter. The jaunts through the
cave are nicely shot, with some excellent
underwater photography. The darkness works within
the confines of the story, and overall, you could
do worst for CGI creature action than "The
Cave". |
