Nearby gasses burn bright and conveniently illuminate the location, which teems with glow-in-the-dark birds, man-eating plants, and whole schools of Loch Ness monsters.Īlso running amuck in the underground world is a lone Tyrannosaurus Rex, who has apparently eaten all other dinosaurs in the area (the skulls of his fellow T-Rexes cover the surface of his desolate terrain). Eventually, they inadvertently fall “thousands of miles” down into the earth, landing safely somehow inside an unfathomably large air pocket where a fantastical world exists. But Proffessor Trevor is busy watching his teenage nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson), who might benefit from an adventure with his estranged uncle if it means better understanding his father’s pursuits.Īnyway, they wind up with an Icelandic “hottie” named Hannah (Anita Briem) for a mountain guide, but she’s little help when they find themselves trapped in an abandoned mine, complete with a roller-coaster railcar ride straight from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. In this adaptation (there have been many), geological professor Trevor Anderson (former Encino Man Brendan Fraser) stumbles upon the world-within-a-world when notes scribbled in his dead brother’s copy of Verne’s book suggest the location of a “volcanic tube” in Iceland, possibly leading to said underground environment. Of course, the film is based on Jules Verne’s classic novel, wherein, another world, complete with all sorts of unimaginable dangers, is discovered at the earth’s core. But there is, however, a statute of limitations for brainless entertainment, not to mention the inanity I can abide from Hollywood. There’s nothing wrong with escapism, mind you.
Forget plot or subtext or character development, the experience relies on special effects purveyed by the hopeless contrivance of 3D for its wows. Movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth are mildly offensive from a viewer’s standpoint, because they don’t bother pretending to be more than popcorn-munching idiocy.