Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Review

As a followup to Journey to the Center of the Earth, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island takes another light-hearted stab at the Jules Verne catalog, this time trading in the thrill-seeking Brendan Frasier for a lizard-pummeling Dwayne Johnson. Which one is better, you ask? I'll just let the bouncing berries do the talking. But strictly as a standalone movie, Journey 2 is definitely its own thing. No need to play catch up here; nothing that a brisk few lines of exposition can't solve in the first several minutes.

The story picks up years after Journey 1, and at this point the young Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) has slouched into the whole teen angst bit: motorcycles, leather jackets, the usual schtick. When he finds a coded message from his grandfather Alexander (Michael Caine), Sean begrudgingly agrees to let his mom's boyfriend Hank (Johnson) tag along in the search for The Mysterious Island, presumably where Alexander is stationed.

Along the way, the unlikely duo recruits Gabato (Luis Guzman) and Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) as guides to fly them to their destination. Once they arrive, stranded, and meet up with Alexander, Hank discovers that the island only has a few precious days left before the whole thing sinks below sea level.

Johnson actually does a really good job with his part as Hank. Between his massive physique and charming grin, the guy's just rife with comedic potential. Hutcherson, likewise, plays well off of Johnson, and their blossoming dynamic is one of the standouts among the cornball cast of characters. Guzman and Caine are almost exclusively played for laughs, and Hudgens... well, Hudgens makes for unbeatable eye candy anyway.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Trailer

Speaking of which, I would highly recommend the IMAX 3D version of the film if you plan on seeing this in theaters. The CG elements (of which there are plenty) are hit or miss, but seeing the movie in 3D definitely helps to sell the coherence of the visuals. The core designs for the creatures and locales are solid, and for a movie trying to capture the whimsical nature of Verne's eccentric vision, the special effects certainly do the job.

Of course, with a fairly merciful running time of 94 minutes, there's a lot of plot that gets glossed over in favor of animal chase scenes and goofball shenanigans. The entire story is predicated on gigantic leaps in logic. You'll nearly crap your pants at how quickly Sean and Hank solve Alexander's coded message at the beginning of the film. As it turns out, almost every character is a borderline prodigy when it comes to plate tectonics, animal behavior and carbon dating.

Ultimately, Journey 2 is a movie that can get away with seemingly baseless reasoning because it never takes itself too seriously. The movie does mostly cater to its youthful target demo -- the dialogue oozes with PG cheese -- but there are some good laughs in there for the older set, too. Is the story more or less forgettable? Totally. But it's breezy, fun, adventure-packed and it delivers exactly what you'd expect. Plus, The Rock punches a giant lizard in the face, and he plays the ukelele. How can you say no to that?

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