If you ever reach a few meters away the center of the earth, your body will explode with the high pressure. It should have been mandatory to state that fact before the beginning of the film. After all, kids tend to believe a lot that they see and hear, even if it’s at the movies. It’s fine to make a mass entertainer, such as Journey to the Center of the Earth. But it is our moral duty to not mislead easily influenced young minds with incorrect information.
This film, based on a novel by the grandfather of sci-fi, Jules Verne, had all the potential of being a subtly-educative thriller too. Here was a nice chance to exhibit exotic flora and fauna, and talk about the necessity to preserve rare species and their habitats.
Instead, the writers have picked up a few ideas from Verne’s story written over a century and a half ago, and sent the audience along with Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser), his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson), and a scientist’s daughter on a childish adventure. By the time one reaches the idyllic garden of paradise at the center of the earth, one almost expects to meet Adam and Eve walking about in fig leaves and eating the forbidden apple. Frankly, that ancient couple wouldn’t at all have been out of place in this silly tale.
Illogically, Fraser’s acting is loud and macho, even though there aren’t any villains to fight against, excepting some carnivorous creatures from the plant and animal kingdoms. Rather than keeping his cool and setting an example, he gets hyper all the time. Hanging recklessly onto a rock floating in a magnetic field, Hutcherson’s facial muscles displays strain but his hands are perfectly relaxed.
The film is juvenile in every sense, from the scripting and acting to the false, unnatural sets. But then, come to think of it, when you’re watching a fun film of this nature, none of that actually matters.
The older generation was lucky to have had the opportunity to watch films like Black Hole and Close Encounters of the Third Kind when they were young. Such films were more informative, and of course, as entertaining as this one is. Since audio-visual content that enter the brain in the formative years is influential and long lasting, director Eric Brevig ought to at least have mentioned that all that you are about to watch with your kids is pure fantasy and have no scientific truth.
