Journey 2:
The Mysterious Island
At: Inox and other cinemas
Directed by Brad Peyton
Cast: Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzman and others
Rating:* * ½
This is sci-fi for kids territory, you can laugh but you can’t ask questions to do with logic. The one major thing that goes against Brad Peyton’s Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is that it will appeal to very small children, who are unlikely to have read Jules Verne or even care who he was.
But the teen hero of the film, Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) is an ardent ‘Vernian’ and all packed and ready to travel to unknown shores when he gets a cryptic message about the Mysterious Island from his missing grandfather (Michael Caine). He also has problems at home—he hates his stepfather Hank (Dwayne Johnson), even though he is friendly and good-naturedly accepts the boy’s cussedness.
Hank helps Sean decode the message and then, in return for funding the trip, accompanies him to Palau, from where Gabato (Luis Guzman) in his rickety helicopter offers to take them to the island. It helps that Luis has pretty, skimpily dressed daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) who comes along for the ride.
They crash land on Mysterious Island and find the grandfather, who is comfortably settled in the incredibly beautiful island, with all its scary and strange critters, like tiny elephants and giant bees. The group plunges straight into an adventure to get off the sinking island—and sci-fi staples like Atlantis, Captain Nemo (who was Indian if you please and wrote a journal in Hindi), Nautilus are bandied about.
It’s fun only because it moves so fast you don’t have time to get bored. The message about family values is pushed in somewhere, as Sean starts to bond with Hank—who can do everything from decode messages, to fight, to banter with Grandpa Anderon, to sing, to “pop” his pecs. Johnson is really the chief attraction of the film with his easy presence and blinding smile. Luis Guzman is the comic relief, existing only to be pooped on or fall into gunk.
The first, and far superior film Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) was the first live-action film shot in 3D. In this film too, 3D is used well to enhance the fantasy landscape. Instantly forgettable, this one won’t go on to become a ‘Vernian’ classic, but kids might just enjoy it.