Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens
Running time: 94 minutes
Certificate: PG
Extras: Deleted scenes, gag reel
It may have raked in over $100 million, but JOURNEY 2 is one of the worst films released in cinemas this year. Little more than an excuse to slap ‘3D tax’ on dutiful parents, Brad Peyton’s follow-up to 2008’s JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH is big on CG set pieces, and painfully short of wit, intelligence, or integrity. When George of the Jungle can’t be bothered to turn up for the sequel, you know something is seriously wrong.
The film once again centres on Jules Verne-obsessive Sean (Hutcherson), who, after receiving some very convoluted clues from his eccentric grandfather (Caine) packs up and heads out to the Mysterious Island with stepfather Hank (Johnson). It turns out Jules Verne’s stories are true – clever, right? No, not really. That doesn’t stop the screenwriters crowbarring in every tenuous Verne-related plot point imaginable. It really is a very tedious affair.
Sure, it’s for kids, but those little guys deserve better than this guff, which is devoid of any artistic value whatsoever. But it does have some giant bees and teensy-tiny elephants, so it can’t be all bad. And with the huge box office, the kids must have seen something in JOURNEY 2 (though they will generally watch any old shit, whether they deserve more or not). For those of us old enough to know better than to shove hotdogs up our noses during the trailers, the one redeeming feature is Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who remains watchable as ever and cements his leading man status. He also has decent support from his trusty co-star, Vanessa Hudgen’s cleavage. The same cannot be said for charisma vacuum Josh Hutcherson, whose irritating cheese face seems intent of ruining everything in which he features. And at least Michael Caine can finally release his ‘creature feature’ trilogy boxset, along with JAWS THE REVENGE and THE SWARM.
Kids. Demand more. This simply isn’t good enough.
EXTRAS: One ‘gag’ reel. Those quote marks should tell you all you need to know about that. And some deleted scenes that were mercifully cut from the film. As if it could be any worse.
JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is available on Blu-ray & DVD 28th May
