Starring Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson
Directed by Brad Peyton
Given that it ditched buffoonish leading man Brendan Fraser in favour of man-mountain Dwayne Johnson, a viewer approaches this sequel to 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth hoping that it's also adopted a more robust brand of storytelling than its anemic predecessor.
Prospects initially seem promising, thanks to a premise that brims with potential. Decoding a secret message, Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and his stepdad Hank (Johnson) learn that Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island is the same landmass as the one featured in Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island and Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Upon setting foot on the mythical island, they discover that it's also home to the lost city of Atlantis. Consequently, the entire place is sinking like an anchor.
And so, just like in its first instalment, this journey to unceremoniously becomes an escape from contingent on evading a variety of giant critters. Inexplicably, a supposedly frantic race against the clock still offers plenty of time for Johnson to strum a ukulele ditty or demonstrate his pec-popping prowess. Granted, at least the latter bit of insufferable showboating reminds director Brad Peyton that he has 3D technology at his disposal. Otherwise, his compositions are flat, uninventive, and cluttered with rubbish CGI that was apparently scrounged up from a special effects surplus sale.
Irritatingly, this seems a franchise that exists solely because it can be made on the cheap without a shred of imagination. Could there be any greater disservice done to the ingenious Verne and his treasure trove of ideas than that? Curtis Woloschuk
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