Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D by Eric Brevig (2008)
1 August 2008After seeing the trailers I was not too impressed with this kids film updating the original Jules Verne story, but I went to see this with my father while he was in town, and I was better than pleasantly surprised. This film is really fun, and 3D has come a really long way! From start to finish I was ogling the 3D and was very impressed. It looked great, from the normal shots, to the CG shots, the 3G was very impressive, and the new glasses were not too distracting at all. The story is of course ridiculous, but I like Bredan Frasier, and he was good, the girl was cute and the kid was good (as he was in Zathura). This is really worth checking out, especially in 3D!
Brendan Frasier plays absent minded professor Trevor Anderson working in Volcanology, but about to lose his lab to his ass of a boss Alan Kitzens (Seth Meyers). His brother and he were interested in a theory on volcanic tubes, but his brother had gone missing 10 years before, and most of his sensors were down, and no one else thought the research useful. Trevor has forgotten that he is taking his nephew for the next 2 weeks while his mother goes and sets up their new house in Canada, so the nephew Sean (John Hutcherson) shows up with Trevor unprepared. Trevor shows Sean his brother Max’s copy of Jules Vernes, Journey to the Center of the Earth, he realizes there is code in it, that corresponds with reading he has been getting at the lab, so they go to the lab. Sean notices that another sensor is online in Europe, and the two use Trevor’s quarter collection to buy tickets and head there, and try and find out what happened to Max. They look for old Colleague of Max’s, but instead find his daughter Hannah (Anita Briem) who tells them Max and her father were Vernians, obsessed with the writings of Jules Verne, but agrees to take them out to the mountain and the new Sensor. They treck out, and find the sensor, but an electrical storm forces them into a cave, and causes a cave in, so they must go into the mountain to try and find another way out. FIrst they find an old mine, and ride the mine cars, which leads them to a room which has it’s walls covered in Diamonds, but the floor is unstable and breaks, and they fall a huge distance, to a land at the center of the earth.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
The Trio heads into the large caves they find, filled with strange creatures, like glowing birds, and eventually find the house of the character from Journey to the Center of the Earth, and not only that the notes of Max, and Hannah finds his body, which they bury on the beach of an ocean. They realize that the cave is getting hotter and hotter, and will eventually get too hot, and boil everything in it. So they decide to use Max’s plan and sail over to the other side, and try to find a geyser that could get them to the surface.
They quickly make a boat, and set sail across the sea, and some carnivorous fish attack them, but then sea serpents attack them, and they move on as a storm arrives. The storm hits and Hannah hurts her hands, so Trevor goes to help her, and Sean ends up getting carried away by the sale.
Sean makes it alone to shore, but finds his glowing bird, and follows it towards the geyser using his father’s compass.
Trevor and Hannah make it to shore, and head to the geyser as well, knowing that Sean knows the plan. And when they reach it, after almost getting eaten by huge carnivorous flytraps, Trevor goes back to find Sean.
Sean meanwhile has had a run in with a t-rex, and Trevor saves him, and then manages to trick the creature onto more of the thin rock, and makes it fall.
Trevor and Sean make it to the river, and Hannah shows up in a jaw of t-rex, and they head to the geyser, but find lava already in the tube, but they find some water condensation, and Trevor uses the last flares to blow magnesium and get water in the tunnel, and re-start the geyser. They get shot out of the volcano, and end up Italy, destroying a farmers crops, but Sean has taken the diamonds from the beggining, and they are now rich.
Trevor returns to the college with Hanah, and starts his own lab with the money, and when Sean’s mom shows up, Trevor makes plans for him to visit at Christmas.
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The 3D is amazing, and this is just a fun movie all the way around. Not amazing, but pretty fun overall.
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