Writer: Ezekiel Lee Zhiang Yang

Writer Ratings:
Overall: 2.5 Out of 5
Cast: 3.0 Out of 5
Plot: 2.5 Out of 5
Effects: 3.0 Out of 5
Cinematography: 2.5 Out of 5

Watch this if you liked: "Jumanji", "T-Rex"

So here's the question everyone wants to know the answer to - is "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" worth watching in 2D, or is the 3D version the only way to go?

Well, all things considered, the journey is an uneventful one anyway, as a manner of speaking.

The latest adaptation of the Jules Verne classic is all about making minimum requirements. Check all the usual cinegredients for known offenders - token 90 minutes runtime, one famous actor and passenger co-stars, paper-flimsy kids-friendly plot with awesome special effects - all shuffled nicely into a Hollywood package that guarantees its marketability and appeal. With such small ambitions, who is to tell Brendan Fraser that he was meant for bigger things?

Obviously he's not - and neither will this movie ever be. The Canadian actor has made a very decent living out of playing buffoons ("George Of The Jungle", "Dudley Do-Right", "Bedazzled") and hasn't looked back since. It's such a shame that he's actually not a bad actor if you've seen movies like "Journey To The End Of The Night" (unrelated gangland drama) but this one particular journey isn't about him, is it? In fact, it's hardly about anything!

Token reverence is paid to Verne but throwing in a goofy uni professor, a prepubescent kid and a hot Icelandic mountain guide into the centre of the earth ought to have had more explaining, or more audience engagement. Sure the animated stuff are gorgeous to look at but without the 3D edge, it becomes another "Nim's Island" or "The Seeker", if you managed to catch these recent releases. The story is one of very little audience engagement and character development. Somewhere in that vacuous volcanic place, all motives and motivation are lost. The fate of our originally likeable adventurers becomes redundant.

Oh well, at least we were introduced to Anita Briem who played the blonde mountain guide.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008