1. No explanation offered for how Sarah gets out of the caves and what happens during the extra day and a half that she's missing. They seem to think she came out of a deep vertical mine shaft that needed a lift to get down into. Presumably, that lift was always at the top and non-operational until the rescue team used it.
2. Sarah conveniently has amnesia, making her unable to warn the characters of the danger until it's too late. Again, no attempt at an explanation is offered for this excuse-plot.
3. The police seem to want to keep the discovery of Sarah a secret - no reason given.
4. Two untrained police officers of advanced age and a previously hospitalised trauma victim go on an impromptu caving expedition, make no effort to stay in contact with the outside world - not plausible in the slightest.
5. Body of Rebecca has randomly moved from a tunnel across the cavern to near the mine entrance - a place that clearly isn't the feeding ground.
6. When Sarah finally does begin to remember the Crawlers, what does she do? Does she try to warn anyone? No, she hits everyone then runs further into the cave, forcing the group to split up and become vulnerable.
7. When a Crawler jump-scares the group of 3 camera watchers, they split up in three directions for no reason whatsoever and make no attempt to re-group. What happened to safety in numbers?
8. Even though Sarah is adept at killing the Crawlers, (which aren't much of a threat on their own anyway) she just stands idly by and watches as one of the rescue guys is slowly sneaked up on and killed by only one Crawler. It's also clear she remembers everything by this point because she knew that keeping quiet would save her own life.
9. Guy falls down below the dangling body of Sam and doesn't make a splash sound.
10. Old man beard-cop spends the majority of the film ambling around in the dark unmolested while everyone else is being hunted down and slaughtered. He doesn't even know to be quiet yet!
11. It's been two days, has Juno been to sleep yet? If she had been killing monsters the entire time, she didn't look nearly fatigued enough.
12. Two experienced outdoorsy type women plus one policewoman cannot pull up the weight of one slightly stocky man, better hack off his arm to let him fall to his death while being eaten at the same time. They don't even try and he doesn't seem to protest much, at least not with words.
yes to everything you said. Also, if you have to take an elevator down a mine shaft, and tear boards off the supposed entrance, do you really think this girl got out this way? If you don't think this is the way she traveled then why do you think she can tell you where to go? if she didn't come out that way, which she literally could not have, then how the *beep* do you think she would know which way to go?
she'll come back as fire, burn all the liars, leave a blanket of ash on the ground ~ Kurt Cobain
All great points This movie was just awful in its very bad screenplay Stupid fat sheriff forcing the victim into the caves after 2 days???? Fml Just dumb I wish they tried something better because original was so refreshing. This was a huge waste of time. So sad. Don't get me started on Juno or the end either. I feel it has all been covered.
Challenge accepted! While my answers are far from perfect please be willing to suspend your disbelief for a few moments. I'll point out I'm no fan boy and have seen the movie exactly once. All my answers are from memory.
I don't think they think the audience is stupid, quite the contrary. They think the audience can figure things out without them spelling every little detail out. I hate those types of movie that do. Think George Lucas and midichlorians. There are two types of people in the world: those who can extrapolate from incomplete data,
1. While back in the cave talking to the deputy Sarah mentions how she was washed out by the water in the cave and was dumped into a lake. That's why while still in the cave she spits into the water to see the direction of flow, knowing it will lead them out. Also why she argued with Juno about which way to leave. She knows there is a safer way then the feeding entrance. The tracking dog takes them to the edge of the lake where the trail abruptly ends. The mine was just another entrance to the cave they stumbled upon (or were led to on purpose. See #13) because of its close proximity to the mine. The day and a half seem a plausible time that Sarah could be stumbling around the forest, delirious and amnesiac (or Juno in the cave). Any longer is just stretching it. By the time Sarah got her memory back she was in the thick of it and explaining where she was the last two days was pretty low on her to do list. Probably right below combing her hair and wiping crawler blood from her face.
2. We know from the first film about Sarah's unstable mental condition. Losing her family, her reoccurring hallucinations (the birthday cake and pipe through the head) and she's apparently on some type of psychiatric medication. She was already walking a thin line between sanity and insane. Add a cave holiday where pale creepy crawlies attack, you lose your best friend (who is your support and keeping you together) and leave another friend to die because she let your bestie die and you have a decent recipe for complete mental breakdown and trauma induced amnesia. This does in fact happen to many severe trauma victims. Watch was an episode of Law and Order! While it's a weak plot device, very convenient and maybe not setup very well it's the only way to get Sarah back into the cave to kick some crawler behind and redeem herself. If she didn't have amnesia the movie is really short.
Sarah: "um, the cave is full of blind, white creatures that ate all my friends. There's no way I'd ever, ever go back down there."
Sheriff: "Sounds like I should go check it out!"
Cave rescue leader: "Um, no... lets seal that thing off."
Big explosion sealing off the mine.
Cut to a white hand pushing its way out of the ground. (Because there are apparently so many entrances/exits to the cave.) Leaving it open for another awfully awesome sequel - The Decent 3 - The Descending of the Descendant.
End credits
3. My first thought was they wanted to keep her from the media frenzy and get the first chance to talk to her without any outside influences. Also look at the motivations of the sheriff. Old guy in a small town nearing the end of a mediocre career. Here's his chance to shine by rescuing a bunch of poor lost girls and getting on the senator's good side by saving his niece, Juno. He didn't need anyone else coming into his town and doing his job. He'll show everyone he's capable and in charge.
4. Yeah, this one is a stretch... Again the sheriff wants to prove himself and do this big thing on his own. The cave rescue team had all the gear ready to go. They had radios but those only work so far and not to the surface. Time was of the essence and saving the lost girls was priority. Getting the only survivor back to the scene was critical in finding them and could possibly jog her memory. Often times this actually happens (watch more Law and Order) but usually the scene isn't a remote cave full of blood thirsty crawlers.
5. We've watched the crawlers drag their kills away. This is common in the animal world especially with a solo kill. One hungry animal makes a kill then drags it away to a safe place so he doesn't have to share or give it up to a dominant rival. Only when the pack makes a kill is there an on the spot feeding frenzy. There is clearly some type of familial or pack order to the crawlers. Maybe a juvenile crawler found what reminded of the body and dragged it off to a secluded place for a late night snack?
6. Again she is a mentally unstable trauma victim with amnesia (ok, it does sounds silly when I type it). Her memories come flooding back instantaneously and she realized she is back where those memoirs happened. She freaks out. She's already experienced a group not believing her about the crawlers and those were her friends. She's not going to let that happen again and with a group of crawler noobs that are going to get her killed. She runs further into the cave knowing she can make it on her own with her super silent kill skills and she knows the way out, through the water.
7. You've missed a great movie moment (at least the best in this movie). They're watching the video and what they're watching is actually happening to them. Their reaction is the same thing that happened in the first movie. They all split up and took off towards the nearest exit. Regrouping isn't easy. While running away from the crawlie with adrenaline pumping, in a dark cave, they aren't exactly paying attention to the route taken, just getting away ASAP! Backtracking can easily get them lost and heading towards where they just saw a previously unimaginable creature would be pretty rough psychologically. It's fight it flight instinct. We have little control over it, especially in a dark cave where creatures from your worst nightmare actually exist. While watching the movie we are privy to the fact that something horrible is about to happen. They don't have that knowledge. They don't think about what they should do if attacked by monsters in the cave. If everyone followed safety in numbers we wouldn't have horror movies.
8. Killing crawlers makes noise, potentially bringing more crawlers. She could see the one but didn't know if there were more waiting unseen in ambush. She saved who she could. She wasn't standing idly by. She was busy holding the deputy's mouth shut to keep her quiet and calm saving her and teaching her the crawlers can be fooled. We've already witnessed that she will leave/sacrifice someone if it means her survival.
9. I'll give you this one. Just plain old bad continuity. The lack of splash could reflect the depth of the pit. Or maybe he bounced off the walls on the way down, lessening the amount of splash. Tough sell.
10. The old bumbling guy didn't pose a real threat. Kill off the people that do then take him out when he's alone. He also seems to be far away from where most of the action is. The crawlers will gravitate to where the most sound is made and that's where the majority of the group are. He was also the furthest from the cave-in. While crawlers are not familiar with the sound of gun shots I'm sure they recognize a cave-in and went to check for potential victims. His not knowing the need for silence only reinforced how little he interacted with the crawlers.
11. Two days aren't that long to go without sleep especially in a survival situation. Look at 127 hours/Aaron Ralston. He didn't sleep at all, cut off his own arm, rappelled then hiked out 5 miles and survived. Juno is in good shape and a custom to caving. However she could have found a little nook to grab a few hours between crawler kills. She's smart if she survived that long. Only killing when the risk of alerting others was low while avoidance was the main strategy.
12. While we see this done in movies all the time it is in fact very difficult, even with help, especially for women that typically lack the upper body strength needed for a feat like this. It's even more incredibly hard with the looming threat of crawlers, crawling up the cliff. The sheriff had already established that he can't make wise choices or keep quiet. He going to get them killed. Once the crawlers have a fresh kill it will give them some time to escape. I could have seen them leaving him or "helping" him fall even without the handcuffs. There's wasn't really time to discuss and take a vote on whether or not to chop his arm off. He probably thought there was no way they'd leave him let alone hack his hand off. Once it started pain takes place of nice words.
13. Shovel guy, Ed pissed me off at first. Then I thought about his motivations. While at the mine he mentions how a family member of his was told to go explore the cave adjacent to the mine. They never came back and Ed was bitter and resentful about that. He may also have a "quid pro quo" type situation going on with the crawlers. Sort of like the gas station attendant in "The Hills Have Eyes." Ed makes sure people or animals find their way to the cave and in return he gets to live. Perhaps Ed was out late one night hunting and killed a deer. A crawler stumbles upon him and his kill and Ed offers it to him in a sign of submission. Crawler takes the deer, lets Ed live due to his generosity and a deal is struck with no words. Hence, the shovel to the head and dropping her back at the hole. Hence Ed taking them to the mine in the first place. He knew the crawlers were down there and would be pleased with the big feast he gave them. Also when he was there with the tracking dog, while the dog was sniffing around inside the mine Ed picked up a big metal rod. He knew enough to arm himself as he knows what's down there.
In the end I was more pissed at the deputy for stopping so soon after getting free. She knows those things hunt outside the cave! Run until your feet bleed!
That about sums it up. If you made it this far then you didn't waste nearly as much time reading it as I did writing it! Take the movie and my comments for what they're worth. I enjoy silly movies like these as they allow the imagination to fill in the gaps. Happy spelunking!
Wow, the very same thoughts were going through my head. Not to mention that when Sarah escaped in part one she was in an SUV, how did she end up on foot?