by Kevin Powers

Created on: August 05, 2008   Last Updated: August 06, 2008

There is no denying that the success of past digital 3D films such as THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3D, BEOWULF, U2 3D, and even HARRY POTTER & THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX, that Hollywood had found a way to get people back into the seats at the theater. The new Brenden Fraser remake JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D is the first theatrical live action film to be filmed specifically for the digital 3D age (although U2 3D is a concert film which can also claim the same thing).

Written by Michael D. Weiss, Jennifer Flackett, and Maril Levin this new film is all fun but no brains as Trevor Anderson (Fraser) and his nephew journey to Iceland after Anderson discovers that his brother may hold the key to proving that the novel "Journey to the Center of the Earth" may be based on fact. Not knowing how to navigate themselves in the strange country they enlist the aid of Hannah (Anita Briem) to help them locate a tracer that Anderson's brother placed years earlier. While trying to retrieve the device the three are caught in an electrical storm that traps them within a mountain. While trying to find a way out, the floor beneath them gives way and they fall deep through the mountain into the center of the Earth in which lies a world within a world.

Once there they learn that everything in the novel was true and that the only way to escape is to follow the journey of the character in the book that displays in detail how to escape. They must fight dangerous plants, dinosaurs, and even travel across a vast sea inhabited by carnivorous fish if they are to find a way back to the surface.

For anyone under the age of thirteen the film will be a joy to behold. Fans of Fraser's GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE will love the film since it's completely predictable and always action packed and that's about all that it has to offer. From the moment "go" the film was meant as nothing more then a way for the studios to capitalize on the new 3D trend without actually developing a story worthy of the format. Unlike BEOWULF or HARRY POTTER, this film seems to want to make everything pop out at the audience rather then choose the best moments to really capitalize on the benefits of the format. Don't get me wrong, the film has some amazing sequences especially the journey across the sea and the sequence with Anderson's nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) making his way across the magnetic rock gully but those bits are few and far inbetween.

The film is filled with lots of bland and forced humor and some action sequences that just don't work, which includes the dinosaur chase at the end which was done better in so many other previous films (not even the 3D CGI can help this sequence). The film seems to work better when the three adventures are fighting against the elements of the world rather then "carnivorous" forces. JOURNEY is a fun film that you should leave your brain at home for. It is a film that will be soon forgotten after its first viewing.

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