Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is definitely NOT a remake of the 1959 film starring Pat Boone. Here the premise makes the Jules Verne classic a road map for some modern day “Vernians” – people who believe that the 19th century novel is actually fact based. Our Heroes start out sceptical lead by Trevor Anderson (sometimes Canadian Brendan Fraser) a less than distinguished professor whose seismic research lab is about to get shaken up in a most undignified fashion. Since he’s continuing the work of his long lost brother Max this causes great distress which is compounded by the arrival of Max’s jaded son Sean (Josh Hutcherson) on a bonding mission with Uncle Trevor before suffering his own extreme humiliation of migrating with his mom to Ottawa. While giving the lad a tour of the ill fated lab they discovered that Max was right in his earth shaking conclusions and that a trip to Iceland is in order. The volcanologist that they seek is no longer alive unlike his hot as lava mountain guide daughter Hannah (Anita Briem). A sceptic herself she’s the one who introduces them to the “Vernian” concept and for a hefty fee agrees to take Trevor and Sean to their seismically active location. While seeking refuge in a cave a rock slide forces the trio into a spelunking venture all the way to the earth’s core where Jules Verne’s scary creatures are definitely not fictitious. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is the first full-length, live action feature shot in digital 3D largely due to the video smarts here in Vancouver as it was filmed in Iceland and Montreal and then shipped to the west coast for post production. The 3D effects aren’t so much eye popping as eye poking early on but eventually blend nicely into the fun and adventure.