Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

I really like this guy to act in these kinds of movies. He is a great actor. This movie is very old but I still remember the scenes. I added it to my favorites. Definitely watch it.

I laughed the whole way through! Great adventure. Luis Guzman is hilarious!

I just love when Josh asks what coordinates are and before Dwayne "finds" them on the globe Josh already knows the location.

Anyway, Disney movies are always fun.

There are so many movie that you can watch with small kids. This one suits the bill. The kids were entertained, dad was entertained.

Brendan Fraser chose not to come back but was treated like he was fired or something. Since he wasn’t mentioned once and there’s a article about Sean’s adventure to the Journey of the Center to the Earth. Without Brendan Fraser in the picture.
The movie is about as much dumb fun as the first film either way. Yeah there’s some flaws like Sean’s injured ankle suddenly not a problem when it comes to him jumping or swimming.
It’s still a guilty pleasure adventure to watch when you’re bored and have a nice big screen to watch it on.

'Journey 2: The Mysterious Island' improves upon 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'.

This is good fun. It's a shame that Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem were unable to reprise their respective roles, though the additions of Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Luis Guzmán and Vanessa Hudgens are all positives. Johnson has a few silly moments (berry pecs + "What a Wonderful World"), but all in all is fairly solid.

The special effects, though still not as great as they should probably be, are upgraded, the score is also better. The plot is the main improvement, this location is more interesting than that of the last movie; admittedly the lame effects for the latter are quite the hindrance.

Seems as if a third film from this series isn't completely dead in the water, despite the now twelve year gap. It's pretty surprising that it has yet to happen given the financial success of this and the 2008 flick - studios turning down money, that's a rarity!

lol Avngle got to love the movies eh ;)

A bit on the cheesy side..

Where to start? A preface that I took my nearly 12 y/o to see this who for the most part enjoyed it.

The opening 15 minutes are nearly unwatchable. I won't spoil it as it truly is something to behold. Dwayne Johnson knows it's awful and delivers the terrible exposition and leaps of logic required to get the story going with a pained expression. There is nothing to work with.

The story/script was reworked by Brian & Mark Gunn, the far lesser of the Gunn clan IMO. The film is loosely directed by Brad Peyton who came from shorts and after 5 years in the wilderness was given the abysmal Cats & Dogs 2 and now this.

The special effects fit in context and are some really nice work (a few bad water composites, but they are always difficult) and the 3D was solid enough and served a number of scenes well. Set design for the most part was good, though they often felt small relying on CGI to extend locations

So with the behind the camera out of the way, what do we have...

Once we get over the awful, preposterous, clunky, exposition laden beginning we [very] suddenly leave the US and are off on "an adventure". This is where we meet Luis Guzman and Vanessa Hudgens. Guzman is great in just about everything and I enjoyed him here; he knows who he is and why directors want him in a role. Hudgen's wears a tight tank top and short shorts for the whole film, leaving my son with many feelings to work through later. Michael Caine has fun, but again has little to work with.

There are a few quite funny moments; the pec/berry scene that is touched upon in the trailer runs longer and gets Guzman in on the fun and we found it really amusing, funnier in 3D. Both Johnson and Guzman have some good funny quips along the way that make you wish it were a better film.

J2 could have been a really good film if it had a better script, reworked exposition and maybe another 10 minutes for the audience to find the characters and care about them. It is just so by the numbers, you can feel yourself moving through it, and it didn't have to be.

I was pretty sure I was going to hate The Mysterious Island. Imagine my surprise when I didn't.

Sure...it hasn't got the best effects, and the acting might not be Oscar worthy, but it has a certain charm that is hard to explain. Some of it might be because I loved all the Verne novels when I was a kid. Some might be because I have a soft spot for family adventures. What I am sure of though, is that I actually enjoyed Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.