Brendan Fraser stars in “Journey to the Center of the Earth.” It’s the first of two films that Fraser starred in last summer and it’s a pretty good one.
Fraser plays Trevor, a scientist and professor who isn’t doing too well in either area. His nephew Sean (played by Josh Hutcherson) comes to live with him for a week while his mom sets-up their new home in Canada. While going through a box of stuff that belonged to Sean’s father, who died when he was a baby, they find a copy of the book – Journey to the Center of the Earth- with a lot of notes in it. Sean’s father, who was also Trevor’s brother, was an explorer, and he died while trying to find the real center of the Earth. So Trevor and Sean head to Iceland to continue the search.
The movie is an exciting roller coaster ride thanks to the 3-D effects, which are outstanding. Not only do you get the usual spitting water and poking stick 3-D trick, but all the action scenes look great in 3-D as well. In fact, “Journey” is the first live-action 3-D adventure film shot completely in the digital format.
The story is simple, but it works. And the acting is o.k. I did have a problem with how many of the scenes were edited – very jumpy. But that’s only a minor problem.
“Journey” is rated PG, for a few mildly scary scenes, which you probably already have seen in the trailer. Overall, it’s safe for the entire family.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D” gets a B. And you’ve got to see it in 3-D if you can. The 2-D version won’t be as much fun (probably a C).
“Journey” was one of the last films being released by New Line Cinema. There is the hint of a sequel at the end. If there is one, it will be produced by Warner Bros.