Review of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) by Tyler R — 15 Apr 2016

I thought Journey to the Center of the Earth was a cheesy, but still enjoyable film. It didn't try to be anything more than what it is, and it was all the more enjoyable for it. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Overly cheesy title, yet still manages to work) follows Sean and his stepfather as they track down his long lost grandfather to the Mysterious Island Jules Verne wrote about in the classic novel.

Mega cheese is a good place to start with this film. In fact, it gets to be too much at some points. Which is a shame, because when Michael Caine is brought in, he actually has pretty solid chemistry with the cast, especially Dwayne Johnson, who injects his usual charisma, with just a tad of cheese to pad it out.

On the technical side, a lot of the 3D effects (I didn't see it in 3D) are very noticeable, and from the looks of it, they were probably pretty decent. On the visual effects front, it's either hit or miss.

Some look good, others make your eyes hurt. However, I will say I liked that they did build some sets and props and such. Sure, they looked a tad cheesy, but it's nice to see that not everything had to be cgi.

Overall, the sequel was as fun as the first in this harmless series of films, and yes, I do hope they follow up with the stinger they teased at the end of the film.