Journey To The Center Of The Earth
While it is great to see the advances in modern 3-D technology in this day and age, it also means that from time to time we will see a movie (or three) that will have as its sole purpose to be an excuse to display the effects on hand while forgoing the dynamics of heart, emotion, or depth. Thus is the case with this 2008 release, based loosely on Jules Verneâs novel (though the movie takes the stance that the book was based on a true story and the characters use it as a guide). Brendan Fraser, arguably the dullest leading man to come out of Hollywood in the last 30 years, brings his lack of personality to the role of a volcanic geologist still pining for his brother who went missing ten years before. When he notices some important seismic shifts at various pressure points on Earth, he takes off for Iceland with his obnoxious, Family Guy-loving nephew (Josh Hutcherson) in tow, and there hires a mountain guide played by Anita Briem as your typical emotionless Nordic ice queen to take them into the area where the seismic meter is located, only to get caved in and swept into a VERY long freefall to the fantastical title land, where they discover what happened to his brother (or whatâs left of him) and try to figure out a way to escape. Thatâs the plot in a nutshell, complete with three unlikable lead actors, and then itâs just time for the viewers to settle in for the avalanche of plot holes, impossible scientific events, and of course the numerous and improbable escapes from death the characters endure, which requires that they be either superhuman or impossibly lucky to survive. In all, itâs a pretty damn boring ride, even with the various creatures they encounter or the mining cart ride sequence which plays as a lame homage to Temple Of Doom, all leading up to the climatic encounter with a giant T-Rex dinosaur that amazingly looks even more fake than the dinos we saw nearly 20 years earlier in Jurassic Park. The fact is, itâs pretty hard to get emotionally invested when the viewer doesnât give a crap about the characters and the effect of the visuals barely warrants a âgee whiz!â but doesnât exactly fill us with the overwhelming awe that it thinks it does. By and large, a film only recommended for the rapidly dwindling fan base of Brendan Fraser, and maybe for those who have to experience everything they can in 3-D, which, while not quite the norm right now, has tremendous potential if combined with a sound script, quality actors, and a director who knows and cares about what he is doingâŚ
3/10