Journey 2

Journey 2




Journey 2

The title of the movie is Journey 2 because it is the sequel to the movie "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and the second part is "The Mysterious Island" because they are both derived from books by Jules Verne. Essentially what we have here is a blue-screen CGI extravaganza with the Hawaii locations with a plot that is essentially all told in the trailer and the movie like it's an amusement park tour.Well, the stranded in the island tour would be fun if we didn't have five very unlikable characters as island-mates. Sean (Hutcherson) is bratty and overly entitled, Hank (Johnson) his stepfather and Alexander (Caine) his grandfather are constantly bickering because Hank is not an Anderson, the tour guide Gabato (Guzman) is overly emasculated and his daughter Kailani (Hudgens) surly. It's like being stuck with five slightly unpleasant people with uncomfortable dynamics between them that you don't really care about in your vacation.The main draw of the movie is perhaps the 3D, the CGI of the island and the sets. We see elephants as big as cats and bees as big as cars. The effects are mostly impressive all around but it never manages to find the right pace or impact because it just comes in one after another without the dramatic tension. Since the characters are so thin, it's so hard to care about their peril or their awe at what they've found.Finally, after watching the movie, I got this feeling that the Rock had way too much creative input in the movie. His absurd peck joke from the trailer, combined with his character as a prize-winning Navy cryptographer who also knows structural engineering and who can play a mean ukulele and sing (awful singing truth be told) all hint at the big guy pretending to be smart and sensitive. Combined with the almost palpable resentment between him and Caine and the sickening obsequiousness of Guzman towards him, it just feels uncomfortable.While the movie is impressive as a 3D CGI set piece, it is severely let down by the characters. The undertone of a lot of family movies lately have been spoilt rich American kid gets everything he wants but this movie does this in a very ugly way. While all the flaws would probably be overlooked by kids, I think adults would find it a bit pointless and uncomfortable. And, since the 3D and the special effects are very good, should suffice as entertainment for the kids.