Journey 2
The Mysterious Island
2012
New Line Cinema / Contrafilm / Walden Media
New Line Cinema / Warner Bros. / Warner Home Video
7.25 / 10
It's great being a child at heart with a decent imagination as it allows me to thoroughly enjoy films like this. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, and Luis Guzman, three actors who I admire, I was only too happy to give this a watch. The thing I like most about Johnson is that even though he's a mountain of a man, he's happy to share the limelight with the other actors, and at times to take a backseat, and this is no exception; because it isn't a vehicle for just one person it builds a depth and context. This is required to help make the storyline more believable.
Sean (Josh Hutcherson) is a single child of a broken marriage who is unsure of the new man in his mother's life, Hank (Johnson). It's this relationship that binds the film together. If this was unbelievable then making you believe in the Mysterious Island would have been nigh on impossible. However, the writers Richard Outten and Brian and Mark Gunn give the viewer one of the more realistic relationships seen onscreen; and both Johnson and Hutcherson add the icing on the cake.
When Sean intercepts a coded message, it's with Hanks help that is gets decoded and the possible location of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island is revealed. Hank decides to take the chance on locating the island in the hopes of developing his relationship with Sean. Even if it's a wild goose chase, their time together should allow them to bond.
Luckily for Grandpa Alexander, Michael Caine, they find the island and the adventure starts.
Director, Brad Peyton, does a decent job of keeping the pace going, whether to build tension, comedy, or action sequences and I cannot fault his work at all.
The special effects are still passable today, saying they were done in 2012. The flight of the bumblebees is a great sequence. I especially loved the elephants, that scene raised a smile to my lips and a laugh to my voice - very clever. However, the strange flora and fauna they come across while on their trip to the Nautilus is a letdown and is comical in both their look and shape.
Another thing that irked me was Guzman's character which seemed to be just around as a comic fill-in. It would have been nice to see him have a little more depth, plus the story really didn't need this type of character as there was enough humour throughout.
I found this to be a much better film than Brendan Fraser's Journey To The Centre Of The Earth back in 2008, in every aspect. So if you enjoyed that movie then you should like this one too. If you like good wholesome family entertainment then I would recommend this film, it's lighthearted and heartwarming fun - a good film to watch when it's cold and wet outside.
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