JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3-D| A FILM BY ERIC BREVIG
DOES THE MUMMY GUY HAVE THE SKILLS TO MAKE THIS FILM A GOOD ONE?
In one of the first movies in a while to come to us in three dimesions, director Eric Brevig’s (2nd Unit Director for Pearl Harbor) directorial debut Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D falls short of spectacular by a lot but provides enough thrills and chills to not bore me to death in 3-D.
Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser, The Mummy) is a mis-understood professor who teaches a small class on volcanoes. He runs a lab founded by his missing and presumed dead brother Max, who had revolutionary theories on volcanoes. One day, he finds out that it is being shut down because of lack of use. The same day, Max’s son, Sean (Josh Hutcherson, Bridge to Terabithia), comes to stay for 10 days. Sean is rebellious, spending time on his PSP and seemingly uninterested in Trevor until the professor goes through a box that Max’s widow brought. Among the treasures is a copy of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth, in which Trevor finds notes by Max leading to Iceland, where they meet Hannah Asgiersson (Anita Briem, Showtime’s The Tudors), the daughter of a contemporary of Max’s. They go inside a volcano and along the way discover “the center of the earth.”
My short opening hopefully tells you something. I did not like this movie and don’t want to write about it. But, so you are forewarned, I’m writing about it. The only bright spot about this film is Josh Hutcherson, who is a great young actor that I’m getting worried about. He is beginning to be typecast in roles that read: “pre-teen rebellious type who is easily swayed to be a good guy.” Films like RV, Bridge to Terabithia, and Zathura, which was my favorite of his, have him playing those roles. I like him and want to see him in some more roles in the future. He’s been in drama, comedy, action-adventure, and sci-fi. I’d like to see him in some kind of romantic film. I wonder if he’s good with the ladies.
The script is poor, the acting (except from Hutcherson) is average, and the cinematography was seemingly documentary-style. Highly disappointing, and they never took much advantage of the 3-D.
Grade: C
