Review of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) by Seth S — 14 Jul 2012

I'll be honest, I only watched this because I am a huge movie soundtrack fan. Andrew Lockington gave a fantastic score to this movie, so I wanted to see what the movie was like that went along with that great music. Journey 2 is just a silly as it wants to be. In a weird way, it doesn't pander to adults with raunchy jokes, like most live-action kids movies. Its just a big, fun adventure movie.

The story is Sean Anderson. He is not bonding well with new stepfather Hank. But then, Sean receives a coded message from his grandfather. Hank helps him decode the message, and after a little arguing, Hank and Sean go off to find the Mysterious Island. They are flown to the Island by a helicopter pilot named Gabato and his daughter Kailani. They get to the Island and find Sean's grandfather Alexander, but the Island is quickly sinking. They stranded party must then find a way off the Island, with the help of Jules Verne.

Josh Hutcherson stars as Sean. He is one of my favorites, and he is very good in this movie. Its crazy to think, him being only 4 years older than me, that he has 2 major movie franchises going at the moment, with the Journey series and The Hunger Games. Dwayne Johnson plays Hank, Sean's stepfather. Its kind of amazing how much effort it seems he poured into this character. He is funny, well acted, sings, and has some action scenes of course. And Dwayne Johnson really proves his acting talents with this. He plays a great father figure to Sean. Michael Caine plays Alexander, Sean's grandfather. Its weird, because of the nature of the movie, Caine gets to really let his hair down. The banter between Johnson and Caine is very enjoyable. Vanessa Hudgens plays Kailani, Sean's love interest, and Gabato's daughter. She does well with the little she has. Its a shame, because her character could have used more development. And lastly Luis Guzman plays Kailani's father. He is supposed to be the comic relief, but whenever he's trying to be funny, he just comes off as being annoying. But surprisingly he is much better when he is being serious, and there are some nice scenes between Gabato and Kailani.

Overall, this movie is silly, yes. But it is supposed to be. The visual aspect of it is mostly stunning, the action is, for the most part, impressive, and the actors are all going above and beyond the call of duty, especially Johnson. And I got what I originally came for, the score by Andrew Lockington is just as spectacular in movie as out of movie. As for the movie, if you have the right expectations, this will probably hit them.

"So, who's up for an adventure?" 6.5/10.