2008’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” was a fun family adventure. It was also the first live-action film to be shot entirely in the new digital 3D format. The Third Dimension has come a long way in the three and a half years since “Journey 1”, as we see in “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”, which showcases the technical improvements along with a few other surprises.
Josh Hutcherson (“Bridge to Terabithia”, “The Kids Are All Right”) is the only main cast member beck from the original. He reprises his role as Sean, who’s now a teenager and still getting into trouble. Brendan Fraser played Sean’s uncle in “Journey 1”, but in this sequel, Dwayne Johnson is the leading man, as Sean’s stepfather Hank. Sean is able to pick up codes over the radio that he thinks are coming from his grandfather, who’s an adventurer trying to find the Mysterious Island that Jules Verne wrote about.
After figuring-out that the island may be more actually be real, Sean and Hank decide to try to go looking for it. They hire a wacky helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens), to take them out to the middle of the ocean where the island is supposed to be. They barely survive a wild storm and end-up on the island where they meet Sean’s grandfather (played by Michael Caine). They learn that the island is the lost city of Atlantis (no spoiler if you saw the end of the first film) and that it’s about to return to the ocean floor. So it’s a race again time and the rising tide to figure out how to get off the island and get back home.
The key to enjoying “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is not to take it too seriously. This is pure fantasy/science fiction. Caine even discusses this in the opening narration. Of course the plot is ridiculous, but it’s also a lot of fun. And, just like the first one, “Journey 2” has a good enough story (with only a handful of characters) to keep your interest the entire way.
Johnson is clearly in one of his three comfort zones here, that being the ‘family film’. This is his fifth family film (including career highlights “Tooth Fairy” and the animated “Planet 51”). He has tons of charisma and charm on screen. He’s also a co-producer on “Journey 2”, and he likely had input on some of the scenes he plays for laughs, including bouncing 3D berries off his chest right at the audience and the witty dialogue he shares with Caine. Johnson also sings in the film (“What a Wonderful World”), and he’s actually not that bad.
Caine is perfectly cast as the crusty, old adventurer. Hutcherson and Hudgens are good as they deal with a possible budding romance while trying to stay alive, but Guzman is too over the top as the comic-relief character. He’s forced to deliver flat jokes and fall down a lot. Overall the 3D is better than average for the CGI scenes involving huge bees, lizards, eels and birds chasing the human characters. But the regular, live-action 3D still has a way to go.
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is rated PG for some brief language and mild action. A few times creatures come right at the camera, which might scare younger kids for a second or two, (but for most the in-your-face 3D is a blast!). It’s appropriate for kids 8 and up, who along with their parents (and even grandparents who might be Michael Caine fans) will enjoy what was the first solid family adventure of 2012.
On The Official L-C-J Report Card, “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” gets a solid B.
Without giving too much away, this sequel does set-up for a third installment, which should come as no surprise. Hutcherson’s going to be too old for this role pretty soon so Warner Bros. better not wait another three and a half years before making “Journey 3”.