Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)

Its Jules Verne and I remember having some very positive experiences with him at a very young age. So it has that going for it even if its not really the Jules Verne story, at least not in anything but name and concept. When I was little there was a made-for-TV movie that looked like it was intended to start a series that never happened and all the kids on the block ate it up. Unfortunately the made-for-TV movie was better. This version suffers from the same failure that Beowulf did....it was just too much. They toned it down a bit with the 3D, there were scenes that gave the viewer a break, albeit a short break. The problem is that once the action hit, once the story started to move along the 3D was too much and too constant. I remember vividly when they first arrived in Iceland....and that's about it. Afterwards I just remember all the 3D being too much and too CGI and in the end, I forgot I was watching a movie. They bombarded the audience with too much and, yes, it looked cool, but does that even matter when, in the end, you are too distracted to remember you paid for a movie, and somewhere in there, there was a story with actors actually acting it out...but they were well hidden beneath the 3D effects and you really didn't get to see them. Thank God movies learned how to tone it down and find a happy medium since.

What an ugly looking movie! It's all watchable, mind you. Even for 2008, the special effects of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' are quite bad, they are more reminiscent of early 00s video game graphics. That whole initial sequence looks awful, admittedly the effects aren't actually as bad as that opening suggests but still looks unbefitting of a flick with a reported $60m budget! What saves this film is that the adventure plot itself is solid and the cast do admirable jobs. Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem are a trio that made it work for me. I haven't got much more to say about this one, it is visually woeful but as a picture overall it didn't drag or anything for me personally so I narrowly view it positively. Now to see what the sequel had to offer!