Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) Film Review

Watched this one on Thursday.

Plot Summary - Action-packed sci-fi adventure in which a professor (Brendan Fraser) and his thirteen-year old nephew (Josh Hutcherson) end up in Iceland where they bond on the ultimate get-to-know-you adventure - a literal trip to the center of the earth! While nephew is staying with uncle for 10 days after something like seven years apart, a trip to Iceland finds them hooked up with a beautiful blonde mountain guide named "Hannah" who takes them up into the mountains where they end up falling through a volcano portal into an old, abandoned mine. Soon they've found emeralds and diamonds - oh happy days - but unfortunately, the floor breaks through and they end up on a zoom-paced fall miles and miles to the center of the earth and into a fantastical world full of waterfalls, glowing blue birds, and fossilized giant mushrooms - plus some bad stuff too, like huge carnivorous plants, sea monsters, and angry dinosaurs. Worst of all - there is seismic activity causing the temperature to gradually rise, and they realize they have less than 48 hours to get themselves back to the earth's surface or die when the center of the earth turns into a 200 degree oven.

Review - This is a fun film - very, very light fare, but entertaining and real fast-paced. Some scenes I liked - the fast "roller-coaster" mine car ride they go on while trying to find a way out of the mine, and also the *long* drop through the tunnel down to the center of the earth is interesting to watch. Nephew almost gets eaten by a very fierce-jawed, drooling dinosaur in a later scene - but, in the way of all filmland, you can usually figure that no main character will probably come to harm, though some of the things these three live through is pretty darn amazing. Interesting special feature on the DVD talking about the history of hollow earth theory and "scientists" who have thought there was really another world inside the earth! Rating - 7/10 stars