On a quest to understand the strange anomalies of recent Earth tremor activity, Dr. Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) takes off to Iceland with his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson, Bridge to Terabithia, Zathura) in tow. Anderson is a relatively functional scientist who, like his missing brother, has devoted his life’s work to understanding the Earth’s essence. It is his life’s goal to travel to the center of the Earth and unravel the mysteries that lie beneath.
Anderson’s nephew, who is dumped by his Mother on Anderson’s doorstep, is not at all interested in spending time with his estranged Uncle but grudgingly goes along, reluctantly turning off his PSP game system and his own gateway to the outer world via the internet. What he does not know is that there is a real-life game awaiting him!
The two Andersons bring on Hannah (Anita Briem) as their guide, climb atop a mountain and delve into the center of an active volcano. From here the journey begins! But wait, this is not quite the classic story by Jules Verne. The book in fact, that inspires the pending adventure could conceivably and successfully navigate us through each adventure.
The movie provided an on screen experience that the book could not. That is to say that the book which was written long ago about the 1800’s could not offer the same visual experience of the movie: From the moment the trio falls beneath the volcanic opening to the Magnesium cave, the Magnetic collapsing floor, the Dinosaur and the Flying fish with foot-long teeth, the action does not let up for a moment. To the participants, we are challenged along with the Adventurers to solve the mysteries ahead by referring to the book. Fortunately for at least Dr. Anderson, he is very intimate with the book and is able to keep ahead of danger.
Aside from the immanent adventure, the sub-stories between Trevor and his Sean, Sean and his missing father and the Tete a Tete’s between Hannah and Trevor were well done and entertaining. I felt satisfied on all accounts and was delighted that young Sean experienced more than an adventure aside from his little digital world.
The movie, itself was quite underrated. Not enough promotion and chatter for this fun, fast paced adventure film that was far better than Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Journey to the Center of the Earth did receive positive feedback overall for the movie and even for Brendan Frazer, who typically plays the silly and non-substantive roles. He was exceptionally good as Dr. Trevor Anderson, despite the poor hairstyle. For sure Frazer had Nicolas Cage’s stylist from the National Treasure sequel. Overall, a thrilling afternoon flick for the family and an inspiration to pick up the classic novel by Jules Verne. I did, loved it!