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Is it worth $10? No
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is a fun little adventure yarn that has no intention of being taken seriously. The dialog and acting are terrible, the visual effects are mediocre and the 3D is nothing but a cheap gimmick. Still, thanks largely to Dwayne Johnson’s charm and the story’s inherent playfulness, things remain amusing enough to be tolerable.
Based on the work of Jules Verne and other classic literature (“Gulliver’s Travels,” for example), the plot starts with punk teenager Sean (Josh Hutcherson) not getting along with his mother’s (Kristin Davis) boyfriend Hank (Johnson). But after Sean receives an encrypted message from a satellite dish and former Navy man Hank helps him decode it, the two are soon on a plane to Palau to find Sean’s grandfather (Michael Caine) on a lost island.
In Palau Sean and Hank meet tour guide Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens, above), both of whom take Sean and Hank to the mysterious island. Of course, once there they have no way to return home, and the island has its quirks, like traditionally large animals (elephants) that are small and small animals that are large. Stop and think for a second what this means for insects and reptiles.
The dialog is at times laughably bad (not in a good way), and the story is plenty predictable. The visual effects are adequate, but the 3D is not. In fact, the only discernible reason the film is in 3D is so Hank can “pop his pecs,” i.e. flex his pectoral muscles, which is impressive when Sean and Gabato throw berries at Hank and they deflect off the popping pecs and into the camera. It’s a lame gimmick, but darn if the kids weren’t laughing.
“Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is a sequel to the 2008 film “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” an otherwise forgettable movie that would make a fun rollercoaster ride. “Journey 2” would make a fun ride as well, but being on the level of amusement park entertainment isn’t always a compliment.
Did you know?
Per imdb: The original Jules Verne story "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" (1864), on which the 2008 movie is loosely based, never had a sequel. However, another Jules Verne story, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1870), did have a sequel, called "The Mysterious Island," which was released in 1874 and followed five American men stranded on an island in the South Pacific, which is similar to the plot in this movie.
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