In Search of a Way Out
Trying to find a positive in everything I should say that "The Cave" looks good on a purely visual level. From the abandoned church in the mountains during the opening scenes to those which take us into water filled caves as we follow a small group of people it looks nearly great. But unfortunately get past the visual and there is little else and in fact is all rather derivative to the point we are talking "Alien" but beneath ground. The way things play out, the group of people trying to find a way out and escape underground monsters is ordinary and whilst it throws up a twist and an explanation it is still ordinary and uninteresting.
30 years after a group of explorers get trapped in a cave up in some Romanian hills a new group of explorers are searching the site including brothers Jack (Cole Hauser - 2 Fast 2 Furious) and Tyler McAllister (Eddie Cibrian - Working Miracles) who are expert divers. But their exploration of the caves soon turns into a fight for survival as their route out ends up blocked and they have to deal with blood thirsty monsters living in the caves.
So as to the storyline to "The Cave" well as already mentioned we basically have "Alien" but beneath the mountain and as such it is all very predictable. We watch as are explorers find themselves in trouble and having to find a way out whilst trying to keep away from monsters which live in the caves. As such certain people die, a couple get injured and there is a split within the ranks when one of the team is infected after being attacked by one of these underground beasties. It is so predictable that towards the end I wondered where the obligatory cleavage shot would come as this sort of movie is never complete without one and lo and behold we have one of the women's wet suits being cut off to give her mouth to mouth, yes it is that predictable.
Being derivative wouldn't be a problem if "The Cave" was still entertaining but for the most it is a walk through the predictable. As such the horror of these beasties attacking are group never really becomes frightening and the constant lack of atmosphere makes it feel monotonous. It ends up a shame because visually "The Cave" looks good, the sets are vast and detailed and between the detail of these monsters and the various lights make it almost a visual treat.
As for the acting well it is as derivative as the rest of the movie, stereotypical characters with cliche scenarios and even more cliche dialogue. Yes Piper Perabo, Lena Headey, Eddie Cibrian and Cole Hauser all look the part but their characters are forgettable.
What this all boils down to is that "The Cave" is nothing special and is just your typical monster movie with people trapped in a small place trying to find a way out. Visually it looks good but beyond that it is ordinary and ultimately forgettable.
