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

When reviewing something as potentially dangerous (at least from a reviewer’s point of view) as a movie based on a popular novel by a very popular genre author like Jules Verne, it’s best to come right out and say it: I have never read the original novel, and I am not exactly well-versed in the works of Jules Verne. So there you have it, I have exposed my ignorance of the source material, and as such, you should judge my review of the movie version in that light.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth”, the 2008 movie version, is a TV telefilm starring Rick Schroder, Victoria Pratt, and directed by one T.J. Scott, a TV director who has done everything from some of those campy Sci Fi Channel Flash Gordon TV episodes to something as gritty and real as the recently cancelled The Black Donnellys. The movie itself is an original film made for the Ion Network, a basic cable channel. Yes, I totally agree; I didn’t even know there was such a thing as the Ion Network until I saw ads for the movie, and began hunting the channel down among my Dish Network’s extensive lists of channels I had never even glanced at before.

The film takes place in the 1870s, where we first meet our intrepid hero, archaeologist Jonathan Brock (Schroder), as he’s bare-knuckle boxing for cash with the aid of his young nephew. Soon, he’s racing home, where rich heiress Martha Dennison (Pratt) is waiting for him. She is looking for her husband, Edward Dennison (Peter Fonda), who has gone missing four years ago while searching for a passage that, legend has it, leads to the center of the Earth. Brock is not willing to take the job (he’s not a Detective, he informs her), but the lure of money (she has fortune to burn), and debts left behind by his father, convinces him otherwise.

To Alaska they go — Brock, his nephew Abel (Steven Grayhm), and Martha. Abel is a journalist in training, and provides the film with voiceover narration. In Alaska, they pick up an additional explorer in Sergei (Mike Dopud), a Russian miner with knowledge about what happened to Martha’s husband, including his brother, who went missing along with Edward. After a long trek through the Alaska terrain, they finally find their passage, and through it they go to the center of the Earth, each with his own reasons: for Brock, it’s the chance of a lifetime; Martha seeks the husband she only knew for a year before he left her for his adventures; Sergei is looking for his brother; and for young Abel, it’s all about the world experience.

Once the foursome reaches the lost world at the center of the Earth, they encounter prehistoric creatures that somehow managed to survive the Ice Age when their brethrens on the surface perished. We aren’t talking Steven Spielberg dinosaurs here, of course, as the filmmakers are working within a limited budget. The CGI creatures aren’t all bad, and if you’ve seen syndicated action-adventure shows like The Lost World, what “Journey to the Center of the Earth” has to offer is slightly better than that. But “Journey” isn’t really about the creature effects; in fact, the creatures only show up for about 10 minutes of the film’s entire running time.

The movie is really about what happens when the foursome finally reaches the center of the Earth and locates Edward Dennison. As it turns out, Edward is still very much alive after four years, and has set himself up as ruler of a primitive, Native American-like race. He’s taught them how to hunt and engineer bridges, and as a result, he’s now their God, but the sudden appearance of Brock and company is not in his best interests. As you can probably guess, Edward was never the greatest husband four years ago, and he’s a pretty lousy one now. Martha, we learn, is not entirely surprised to discover this.

The acting by the cast is actually pretty good across the board. I’ve always been a fan of Rick Schroder, and he’s good here as the smart, resourceful Brock. I liked that his archaeologist is parts prizefighter and parts thinking man’s action hero. Victoria Pratt is surprisingly good; I wasn’t sure how she would do, but right away Pratt was impressive in the role. She’s really improved as an actress. This is, after all, one of the stars of the cheesy sci-fi show Cleopatra 2525, which required Victoria to show more skin than acting ability. If “Journey to the Center of the Earth” proves anything, it’s that Victoria Pratt has grown by leaps as an actress since fighting robots in skimpy wardrobe on Cleopatra.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” has all the signs of a two-hour pilot for an ongoing action-adventure series, but the ending would seem to indicate otherwise. Which is too bad, because I wouldn’t mind following the adventures of Brock and Martha as they explore the center of the Earth’s many mysteries on a weekly basis. As mentioned, I have never read Jules Verne’s book, so I don’t know how faithful this TV movie is to it; I would imagine it skimps on a lot of the details that can be found in the book, since the filmmakers had just two hours (plus commercials) to work with. All in all, I thought “Journey to the Center of the Earth” was a pleasantly entertaining two hours of cable TV. Too bad there won’t be a regular series…

T.J. Scott (director) / William Gray (screenplay)
CAST: Rick Schroder … Jonathan Brock
Victoria Pratt … Martha Dennison
Steven Grayhm … Abel Brock
Mike Dopud … Sergei Petkov
Peter Fonda … Edward Dennison
Jonathan Brewer … Wakinta