Stars: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem, Seth Meyers
Directed by: Eric Brevig
Reviewed by: Adam Mast, Zboneman.com
Grade: C+

This updating of the Jules Verne classic features the forever goofy Brendan Fraser as Trevor, a scientist whose convinced that Verne's popular piece of literature isn't merely a work of fiction, but rather an instructional guide. With the aid of his young nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and mountain guide Hannah Asgeirsson (Anita Briem), Trevor sets out to prove his seemingly nutty theory. Naturally, his assessment turns out to be correct, otherwise we'd still be talking about Mummies.

The big hook here is that Journey to the Center of the Earth was shot in digital 3-D. Director Eric Brevig – a visual effects man by trade - and his crew utilized the same equipment that James Cameron is using on his current production Avatar. It's safe to say that Cameron's film will be the stronger effort. This isn't to say that Journey to the Center of the Earth is a complete waste of time. If you have children in the house ten years or younger, chances are they'll get a big kick out of it. If I had seen this when I was a kid, I probably would have loved it. As it stands, Journey to the Center of the Earth is on par with Fraser's aforementioned Mummy franchise.

Fraser does a lot of mugging and his goofy charm can be appealing, but for me, the schtick wore thin by about the half hour mark. Who are we kidding though? Kids are coming into this thing to see creatures jump out at them and there's certainly plenty of that going on. There's also a mine car sequence virtually plucked from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, only here, you get to witness it in the third dimension.

Technically speaking, the effects work is cartoonish. The dinosaurs and other various creatures that dwell in this fantasy world aren't organic. They look like CG creations and that kept me from getting sucked into the fantastical aspect of the movie. The 3-D work is of the gimmicky variety. Creatures jumping out at the audience and so forth. At the very least, the 3-D imagery here is far sharper and infinitely more vibrant than the 3-D of the past. There were a few moments of intrusive blur, but for the most part, this 3-D process is a big step up from what you might be used to.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is opening in 3-D and 2-D, but quite frankly, there isn't much of a reason to see it unless you're seeing it in the third dimension. If you don't have a movie house with digital projection in your neighborhood, my suggestion is wait for DVD.