And with these words, you pretty much know what you're going to get, for the rest of the movie...

Or so you think.

From the moment the film starts it follows a pretty obvious route with some cliched dialog to show the relationships that people have with each other. People go down a hole where there's water involved and a storm is on the way. Things follow a pretty predictable path when the storm hits and our intrepid crew are stuck in a cave while the waters flood out their escape routes, forcing them to dive through a recently (and conveniently) uncovered cave system, part of an extensive network that starts at the top of a mountain but feeds out to the ocean.... They hope.

If you're expecting Descent meets Aliens, you're in for a disappointment. There are no monsters, no unearthed prehistoric creatures or vicious albino mutants, because there is no need to include them into the mix. The strength of the movie is the characters working with each other and against the cave, to get out. The six starters slowly dwindle, not from some kind of serial killer or haunted house scenario but from their own actions and decisions. When put in life and death situations, people can become their own worse enemy.

With the name of James Cameron plastered all over the posters, you'd be forgiven for thinking he's at the helm of the movie, but it's pretty much his, in so much that it's shot in 3D using the same techniques that he developed for Avatar, a process that he has the copyright on and so he gets to have executive producer credit on any film that uses it. It's an American movie, without an American in sight, although the actors do play some.

Alisteir Grierson is the director, making his second feature film, four years after Kokoda. Once the main players find themselves stuck, he does a tremendous job of building the tension with use of lighting(with one ridiculous exception that's set up, early on) and sound. The lack of noise at the right moments, the occasional lapse into complete darkness and tunnels becoming claustrophobic, all work together to help you ride the movie like a roller-coaster. You would be forgiven for thinking that they're going to spend the bulk of the movie underwater, with the treat of drowning constant and all pervasive, but the script (based on writer Andrew Wight's real life troubles in a cave system in the Nullabour), spreads these scenes out to maximise their impact. The language is strong, very Australian and the most disturbing element of the movie is magnificently downplayed.

Richard Roxburgh puts in an outstanding physical and emotional performance as Frank McGuire, the expert leading the expedition, while Ioan Gruffudd (Mr Fantastic from the Fantastic Four franchise) as Carl Hurley does his turn as an adrenaline junkie millionaire who's financing the exploration so he can have parts named after him. Alice Parkinson (best previous role, in a giant, furry suit for Where The Wild Things Are) grabs the opportunity to play his mountain climbing current fling, Victoria, knowing that this is her chance to make Hollywood pay attention to her assets. Finishing off our main players, Rhys Wakefield (formerly of Home and Away), is a junior action star, playing Frank's son, j17h, who hates that his father thinks more about caves than he does for his family, back home.

Ultimately, this is a film that makes promises that it keeps. But like a genie with wishes, it provides some twists that you didn't think were part of the deal.