ome time during the Cold War in the Romanian mountains, a team of scientists uncovers a church built in the middle of nowhere in the 13th century. They find a tiled floor with a picture of a winged demon and they go down into a hole. They don't come back.
Cut to modern day, and there's a very hip group of thrillseekers diving in tight spots off the Yucatan. The group is led by Jack (Hauser), who doesn't trust his renegade brother Tyler (Cibrian), and the team consists of a salty military man named Buchanan (Chestnut), a young protégé named Charlie (Perabo) and a sexist brute Briggs (Ravanello). They get assigned by Dr. Nicolai (Iures) to explore one of the deepest darkest underwater caves in the world and they're all thrilled about it.
Of course, it doesn't really matter why they're going there, or that a scientific expedition disappeared there decades before, it just matters that it's deep, wet, dark and perhaps virgin territory where no one has ever been before. They soon find out that's not the case.
A sexy scientist named Kathryn (Headey) and a photographer Kim (Dae Kim) join the expedition into the depths of a cave that looks like Carlsbad Caverns, except with deadly creatures all around.
They have dophin-sized eels swimming between their feet, a German Shepherd-sized albino mole scurrying in the dark and a winged monster swooping overhead. It's that devilish, other-worldly monster that they should be most concerned about.
And, of course, their only way out gets blocked, they separate into smaller groups, and they get picked off one by one, like in Tem Little Indians. The question for you, is: Can you guess who will survive? And then: Do you care?
This Cave isn't deep enough
Sure, we've not seen many action SF films about diving, but don't let the ad campaign fool you—it's not the first of its kind, and it's not the most unique adventure setting ever. Anyone remember The Abyss?
It's fascinating to watch the stunt people do their spelunking and diving, but it's so dark in this cave, and the diving masks are so thick, that we know darn well it's not that cute Coyote Ugly Perabo in that wetsuit.
Some of the potential depth in the characters seem to dissipate quickly as the brotherly rivalry over the affections of Kathryn seems to get swallowed up as soon as they get in the cave. There's a telling toast before the team sets on their adventure when they clink glasses and shout: "To virgin caves!" Headey gives a rather curious glance over to Perabo, which is a more interesting subplot that will get explored when the two actresses play lovers in their next film Click.
Perabo comes up with some of the most clever lines in the film, like "It's totally rockin'" and then, when the team realizes they're trapped and wonder who may come and rescue them, Hauser pipes up, "The best people to get us out are right here!" Well, isn't that a dilemma!
Some of the choices these supposedly schooled experts make don't make much sense. Why, for example, would you pick up and cuddle an ugly white hairless creature with fangs as if it were a pet dog? Why, if you're stuck in a cave where water is flowing, would you climb away from where the current seems to be going out somewhere?
And finally, if your fearless leader gets scratched by something and then his eyes start to have little triangles in them because a parasite is invading his body, then maybe it's time to find a new leader, eh?
Hauser does a fine job as the leader, but he doesn't seem like he's taking it all very seriously, and that's the way to go with this. Not many surprises at all, but there are a few conventions from the Wes Craven rule of scary movies that are broken in the guessing game of "Who will survive?"
