Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) Movie Review

A quick search on the Internet Movie Database shows that Jules Verne’s “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has been adapted for the screen (big and small) at least 10 times. There’s even a Filipino version! By Hollywood standards, this must not seem like overkill, because guess what? If you go to your local cinema, you can see the 11th version. But wait. The news gets better. If you’re lucky enough yours is one of the 954 cinemas showing it in 3-D. (The remaining 1,857 are not.)

Very, very loosely based on Verne’s novel and with a screenplay by Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” focuses on Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser), a university professor and scientist whose brother, a volcanologist of sorts, went missing about 10 years before. Trevor keeps his brother’s work alive, by keeping tabs on the monitors that he placed around the globe. But his brother’s theories were controversial, and with no viable results, the university wants to shut down his lab. These are the least of Trevor’s problems, though. His sister-in-law is about to arrive at his home, bringing with her Sean, her teen-aged son (Josh Hutcherson) who is about to stay with Trevor for an extended visit.

It is during their “getting acquainted time” that Trevor tells Sean about his father’s interest in the novels of Jules Verne. While flipping through his brother’s copy of “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” Trevor finds numeric codes and cryptic notes written in the margins. Stranger still, the monitors in his brother’s lab display numbers that are identical to ones appearing on the day that his brother disappeared. All clues lead Trevor and his nephew on a quest for an Icelandic man named Sigurbjorn Asgeirsson. Once in Iceland, Trevor hires Sigurbjorn’s daughter Hannah (Anita Briem) to take them up a volcano so he can check the now active monitor. As you might expect, disaster strikes, and the trio begin a journey into the center of the earth.

The story behind the film is probably more complicated than it needs to be, because what do you expect when you pay to see “Journey to the Center of the Earth?” Special effects and plenty of them. If you can muddle through the first 20 to 30 minutes of the film, you will be rewarded with some pretty spectacular vistas. I’ve never read the Verne book nor have I seen another cinematic version of the story, so most of it was new to me. You get to see blue glowing birds, giant Venus flytraps, long-necked dinosaurs, piranha-like fish that leap out of the “sea,” a hungry and persistent T-rex, floating magnetic rocks, and more. I’m not really revealing anything here, as the trailers for the film show way more than they should have. Watch the trailer, and see the film’s highlights for free.

On its opening weekend, “Journey” was in the No. 3 spot, earning a respectable $21 million. (It cost about $45 million to make.) Not surprisingly, it has been reported that “about 57 percent of the weekend revenue for (the film) came from 34 percent of the theaters showing it – those that were equipped with 3-D projection facilities.” I wasn’t fortunate enough to have seen “Journey” in 3-D, but I can guess which parts jumped out at the audience. The novelty factor of having seen this film in 3-D – the last 3-D film I saw was the re-release of “The House of Wax” – probably would have increased my appreciation of it. Not that “Journey” is a bad film per se. It’s just not really big screen quality. If truth be told, the only reason it landed in cinemas instead of on heavy rotation on the Sci-fi Channel is the presence of Brendan Fraser, who is handsome as always and gives the film some good laughs.

On the plus side, “Journey” does contain some pretty exhilarating action sequences – there’s a rollercoaster ride through a mine shaft that’s reminiscent of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”- and the diminutive Briem is a tremendous find. She’s sure to set the hearts of every teen-aged boy on fire. Teen-aged girls in the audience aren’t left out. They can coo over Hutcherson, who was most recently in “Bridge to Terabithia” and “Firehouse Dog.” In all reality, to get the most out of “Journey” you need to go without too many expectations, and be sure to leave your logic at the door. (How a cell phone works in the center of the Earth is beyond me.)

Eric Brevig (director) / Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin (screenplay), Jules Verne (novel)
CAST: Brendan Fraser … Trevor Anderson
Josh Hutcherson … Sean Anderson
Anita Briem … Hannah Ásgeirsson
Seth Meyers … Professor Alan Kitzens
Jean Michel Paré … Max Anderson
Jane Wheeler … Elizabeth