{"id":9827,"date":"2008-07-15T14:50:50","date_gmt":"2008-07-15T18:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=9827"},"modified":"2008-07-15T14:50:50","modified_gmt":"2008-07-15T18:50:50","slug":"journey-to-the-center-of-the-earth-2008","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2008\/07\/15\/journey-to-the-center-of-the-earth-2008\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"journey_to\"<\/a>If you\u2019ve never read Jules Vernes\u2019 original novel before, if you\u2019ve never had the pleasure of seeing any of the film adaptations, then there\u2019s a good chance you may enjoy \u201cJourney to the Center of the Earth,\u201d a family adventure film that\u2019s just been released for the sake of cashing in on the 3D gimmick and dumbing down the entire story to where it\u2019s really nothing but a ride. Just like a Universal studios attraction Eric Brevig\u2019s film comes with an interactive device that allows you to sit through an experience that presents the a basic broad premise and wastes no time in plunging you in to a variety of awe inspiring sights and sounds that will make you \u201cooh\u201d and \u201caah\u201d and then do nothing more afterward.<\/p>\n

There are luminescent birds, giant T-Rex\u2019s, flying piranhas, lava pits, gigantic water falls, and even a fun mine cart ride a la \u201cThe Temple of Doom.\u201d Sure, it\u2019s an empty experience void of plot or deep characterization, but it\u2019s one that doesn\u2019t pretend to be anything more than popcorn fodder for summer audiences. I don\u2019t begrudge movies for appealing only to kids so long as it doesn\u2019t talk down to them or promote messages that are otherwise destructive and ill-conceived, and \u201cJourney\u201d is that movie that really just looks to entertain and entrench us in an adventure that will stay with even the most cynical movie goer, if they\u2019re willing to go along with what they see\u2026 while subtly influencing the thrill of reading.<\/p>\n

It may end up being an inspirational movie for a ten year old like \u201cRaiders of the Lost Ark\u201d was for many of the adults out there. \u201cJourney\u201d is set in a world where Jules Vernes novel is simply that. It\u2019s a novel that\u2019s acknowledged as such that is used as a map for the center of the Earth. Once the novel is used as source material, Brevig\u2019s adventure soon begins to feel like \u201cLand of the Lost.\u201d Brendan Fraser mugs charismatically for the camera riding between pure buffoon and eccentric genius and manages to pull it off well channeling his character from \u201cThe Mummy\u201d to lead his nephew and exotic guide Hannah \u00c1sgeirsson (The lovely Anita Briem) on a mission that would otherwise be considered purely arbitrary were this not a movie intended solely for fourteen year old boys.<\/p>\n

I really wanted to hate \u201cJourney 3D\u201d but I just couldn\u2019t because it brought to mind some of my favorite adventure fiction like \u201cJohnny Quest\u201d and \u201cTin Tin\u201d as it manages to be more of a meta-movie, one that uses the original story as the basis for what we see on-screen. \u201cJourney\u201d is really nothing more than a m\u00e9lange of sights and sounds with some rather fanastic special effects, and I couldn\u2019t help but beam at it with a smile for ninety minutes. Shoot me, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I\u2019m surprised to say that \u201cJourney 3D\u201d isn\u2019t the worst film in theaters, nor will it manage to be the worst film all year. It\u2019s a fluffy, fun, and exciting CGI ride for families looking to invest ninety minutes in dinosaurs and unusual monsters and nothing more, because the producers look to aspire towards nothing more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve never read Jules Vernes\u2019 original novel before, if you\u2019ve never had the pleasure of seeing any of the film adaptations, then there\u2019s a good chance you may enjoy \u201cJourney to the Center of the Earth,\u201d a family adventure film that\u2019s just been released for the sake of cashing in on the 3D gimmick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[39,64,71,219,283,340,349,515,580,906,1087],"class_list":["post-9827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-3d","tag-adaptation","tag-adventure","tag-comedy","tag-dinosaurs","tag-family","tag-fantasy","tag-j","tag-kids","tag-science-fiction","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}