The Cave

I went into this movie expecting just your average creature feature akin to Pitch Black, and I wasn't let down. It is, indeed, just your average creature feature. It's not the next best thing to Aliens, but it's not the travesty most reviewers here are making it out to be either.

The Cave is a fun popcorn flick. There's no really deep plot or amazing acting talent. What this movie does have is a few very intense, suspenseful moments, which is only aided by the very dark and claustrophobic atmosphere of the cave. It also has your average thriller twist at the end which I did not see coming.

The cinematography and directing by first-timer Bruce Hunt is surprisingly well done. His background as assistance director for the Matrix films and Dark City is apparent here. While he's no Spielberg or Cameron, he keeps the camera angles interesting, and there are scenes within vast, tall rooms in the cave that are quite breathtaking. One complaint, however, is that he chose to follow other directors mistakes in jarring the camera in a very frenetic and sickening manner back and forth whenever one of the characters is being attacked by the creature. This is not only very annoying and disorienting, but is IMO just a trick to cover up the poor creature fx.

Speaking of the FX, I have to say I'm 50/50 here. Sometimes they looked good, and sometimes they looked like they were from a Sci-Fi Channel original movie. The creature effects that looked good were the closeups, which utilized real models. These looked quite realistic. But far away shots of the CGI creatures are not so impressive.

If you want to sit down on a Friday night and just have fun, then pick up The Cave.

A group of scientist/explorers are brought in to explore a cave in Romania. Legend claims a church was built to seal the cave as a display of God's protective power, and Templar Knights fought winged demons.

The acting is pretty good with some solid actors. The most recognizable actors are Lena Headey, Morris Chestnut, Daniel Dae Kim, Cole Hauser, Piper Perabo, and Eddie Cibrian. They're able to give serious performances without being campy.

It's not scary as a horror, but it works more as an action adventure. They could have laid out the cave system better as the movie goes along. A few seconds of screen time could save a whole lot of headaches. Seeing Piper Perabo swinging on the cliff is a lot of fun. However some of the other action scenes are too confused and chaotic.

The creatures are a bit of a disappointment. It's just yet another CG creature creation. Half lizard half dragon, it could have been so much better considering what the creatures are derived from. They could have made it much more original and unique.

This wasn't a bad movie if you like creature flicks. It isn't original, but it does nothing badly and is interesting enough to spend 1.5 hours with.

Firstly: why is it that the entire team consists of hunks and babes? Even the scientists are good looking chicks. Oh well, we'll just have to suspend our thinking and just accept that actors have to be good looking these days, even if their roles completely rule out looking like a supermodel.

As for the movie itself: the action, plot (if there is any to speak of), effects and direction are OK, as is the acting.. Once again, nothing special, novel or interesting but not bad either. The editing was decent except for the action shots. Why does every editor and/or director think that they are doing an MTV clip these days? Keep the camera still! If you think I can see what's going on in random .3 second bursts of film, you're wrong. So irritating.

The effects are OK. Although at times the caves are lit in ways that are impossible for the little flashlights to accomplish, the set is generally dark enough to be realistic. The caves look real. The monsters are not that good but they are almost never shown completely, and in doing so they are acceptable. I do wish the movie had more gore though. Being, as almost all horror movies these days, PG-13 to cash in on teenage kids' money, it does not show any gore besides some scratches and some ugly but very brief ceature shots.

Final comment: I wish the movie had revolved around the first cave expedition that is shown during the introduction titles. They seemed a hell of a lot more interesting than that group of supermodels who came in later. Real men, real people, driven by greed. Oh well.

Decent action, decent thrills. Not bad to kill some time with.

Truth is, that's all one needs to say about this low-budget suspenser about a group of spelunkers and scientists following a mysterious passage deep into the earth, long hidden beneath an ancient church in Romania. They quickly run into malformed creatures that exist only in the darkness, and get picked off one by one as they race to find a way out. The creatures are not as scary as the ones in "Pitch Black" or even "The Relic." There is a much better movie buried here (pun intended) involving some very tense and exciting sequences as the spelunkers work their way through various caves and passageways and waterways, and climb up and down steep rock walls. But the clichéd monster movie keeps getting in the way. And in the end, it doesn't help that each character is a walking cliché seemingly right out of "The Core." I would gladly watch "The Cave" a second time, but only for the cave exploration scenes. The ending has a nice, slightly twisty touch.

I saw this movie yesterday night, after going through my other collections and its usually IMDb that provides me motivation of either to watch something or chuck it. So i went through the reviews at IMDb and found that it wasn't highly rated. Still i decided to give it a try as i did not have anything else to watch......and i must say this movie is well made right from the start be it the acting,the choreography,the locations....everything was perfect. The only thing i found wrong was that the characters details were shallow but even then i found this movie amazing.

All i want to say is that reviewers must not go along with the herd if some people criticize then they should as well. This movie deserves the recognition and the people who made it possible as well. Hence i would recommend people to watch this and not go according to the rating earlier shown.