Ladies and gentlemen, we have finally arrived in the future. Journey to the Center of Earth is the first full-length feature film designed to be presented entirely (yes, entirely) in three dimensions.
And I can tell you first-hand: the future is awesome.
Granted, the technology has been around for a while. If you’ve ever visited Disney World or Universal Studios theme parks, the effect of watching a 3-D movie in your home theatre is exactly the same as watching Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, which has been showing in Epcot since 1994. The film quality, as it’s now entirely digital, has improved significantly, but the basic idea, 3-D glasses and all, is still the same.
Luckily, the movie itself is sufficiently entertaining and, unlike the technology, not meant to be innovative or deviate from the formulaic, kid-oriented action-adventure norm. The storyline is enjoyable in its predictability and the few times when the three-dimensional aspect is shoved in your face (literally) are more fun than frustrating. However, if you’re ten years old, parts of the movie that would be startling in 2-D are downright heart-stopping in three dimensions.
The storyline is predictable and simple. Just like the original Journey in 1959, the story is loosely based on Jules Verne’s classic science fiction novel. The movie wastes no time introducing the characters and tossing them into a volcano. Trevor (Brendan Fraser) is a college professor who can’t fill his classes. When his nephew, Sean, (Bridge to Terabithia’s Josh Hutcherson) is dropped off at his house for a week while his mom finds a new place to live, he brings a box full of paraphernalia left over after the mysterious disappearance of Trevor’s older brother more than a decade ago. Among the items is a copy of the novel, scribbled in with numbers and codes that Trevor manages to interpret as a sign that he should travel to Iceland and explore a certain volcano to uncover the mystery of how his brother disappeared. Although the audience is required to suspend disbelief on occasion, such as why Sean’s dad would have left the novel and that information behind in the first place, since we know where the story is going, nobody cares.
Unless you’re babysitting your twelve-year-old neighbor (the middle school males will enjoy the action, the middle school females will enjoy the miniature heartthrob of a main character), the movie isn’t a must-see. However, I would highly recommend it as a date movie — besides having goofy glasses to keep as a souvenir, there are also plenty of intensely suspenseful moments perfect for a little bit of “let me grab onto you in fright” flirtation.
The movie comes out July 11, perfect for some harmless post-swimming-pool thoughtless summer fun, followed shortly by Brenden Fraser in the new Mummy movie.
Rating: A