Movie and Television Reviews

One has to admire the artistic yoemanship of Brendan Fraser. Like Owen Wilson, he's OK with playing the same character in every movie- no "I want a challenging project" pretentiousness here. In Journey to the Center of the Earth, he's once again a brave, humorous, capable but not intimidating man urged by events to great acts of heroism.

Fraser's character this time around is Trevor, a soon-to-be defunded vulcanologist. Trevor's PSP-addled nephew, Sean (Joshua Ryan Hutcherson), is hostile to the notion of spending 10 days with Trevor, but Sean agrees to do so as long as Trevor allows him to watch Family Guy and eat whatever he wants. Sean brings along a box with his missing father's belongings. As Trevor rummages through the box, he discovers a copy of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth with his brother's hand-written notes in the margins.

The Mummy Collector's Set (The Mummy (1999)/ The Mummy Returns/ The Scorpion King)

Intrigued, they go to Trevor's lab where they discover a dot on a computer screen** over Iceland.

They head for the Icelandic institute mentioned in the book and find Hannah, the daughter of the institute's founder.

Hannah explains that her father belonged to a society of "Vernians" or people who take Jules Verne's writings to be true instead of science fiction.

Journey to the Center of the Earth (Unabridged Classics) by Jules Verne

---Let's interrupt here to say that this is a brilliant concept. The idea that Verne was just writing down stories told to him by real explorers is a thrilling premise for a series of films or adventure novels.---

Anyhow, they fall into a volcano and have to get out. All of the things you'd expect to happen considering the group dynamics involved- pampered, unappreciative teenager; hot Icelandic girl; and hunky explorer- and the situation- life or death requiring close cooperation-...well, I won't give it away.

The middling bad:

A big deal is made of the movie's 3-D technology. Besides the fact that I usually care more about the dimensionality of the characters than the camera technology, I didn't find the effects all that spectacular.

JCE doesn't concern itself with either the laws of science or the possibility that the audience will find the characters' making of 109 consecutive saving throws a bit too much.

The introduction is a little long compared to the rest of the movie. It seems that once they actually reach the middle of the earth, we're way past the middle of the movie. I would have liked a little more exploration of the new land a la Stargate. Their attempt at escape seems rushed as a result.

Stargate (Ultimate Edition)

No Chaka!

Chaka, you've been forsaken!

The middling good:

Anita Briem is the best thing to happen to geology research since David and Goliath.

However, for boys and girls of a certain age as well as adults who don't ask a lot of questions, JCE is a fun movie; It has dinosaurs; fantastically cute thinking birds that make no kind of sense in what's supposed to be science fiction, not fantasy movie; moves fast; and has likable enough characters.

Some of the scenes are thrilling in an Indiana Jones way. Nay, some of the scenes are from Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special Edition)

Message/ Politics:

No politics, although Hannah can make even Howard Zinn consider invading defenseless Iceland.

JCE is a very wholesome movie with only a kiss and Hannah's shorts to get anybody excited.

Sean goes from timid slacker to brave, loyal, and resourceful near-man. Hannah, Sean, and Trevor use their brains to overcome obstacles. My sons loved the knives and compasses in JCE; they reminded them of Dangerous Book for Boys.

**JCE is the first movie in five years featuring CRT monitors instead of flat screen LCDs.

The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Family Guy, Vol. 5 (Season 5 Part 1)

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