ERIC Brevig’s smart update of “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” starring a delightful Brendan Fraser as an intrepid geologist, is the most entertaining 3-D movie I’ve ever seen.
PHOTO GALLERY: Journey To The Center Of The Earth
Director Brevig may not have a Spielberg-size budget to work with, but he delivers at least as many family-friendly thrills as “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in a remake rivaling the far more lavish 1958 Technicolor version of Jules Verne’s classic starring James Mason and Pat Boone.
This fast-paced edition moves the action to the present, where Fraser’s Trevor Anderson is spending a couple of weeks with his sullen nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson). He hasn’t seen much of him since Sean’s dad disappeared a few years back.
Sean’s old man was a Verne buff, and a signal from a geological sensor he placed in Iceland sends them off on a wild adventure there accompanied by a spunky local guide named Hannah (Anita Briem).
The three of them descend into the bowels of the Earth, where they encounter prehistoric beasts and other creatures after falling thousands of feet to the Earth’s center.
No movie with a T. rex chase is shooting for authenticity, but there are geologically plausible moments here and there. Not particularly the sequence where Sean surfs magnetic rocks that slowly turn over while crossing a yawning chasm with a pool of lava at the bottom.
It makes for a terrific 3-D sequence in a movie that has lots of them, though. Objects and even noxious fluids are hurled at the audience, which was regularly ducking at the screening I attended.
While I can’t vouch for the 2-D version (which I haven’t seen), “Journey” has a couple of other things going for it besides the excellent effects.
Unusual for this genre, the script doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence, and it mercifully soft-pedals its message about the virtues of reading.
Another plus is Fraser, whose comic timing and talent for lending credibility to fantastic situations is a delight, even in lesser efforts like the “Mummy” movies. Hutcherson and Briem (who, amazingly, is actually from Iceland) also give performances well above the norm.
“Journey to the Center of the Earth” may not be stunningly original – it more or less copies the mining-car sequence from another “Indy” adventure – but it’s actually worth $14, which is what you’ll pay for a 3-D ticket in some theaters.
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH
Fun for the whole family.
Running time: 92 minutes. Rated PG (adventure action, scary moments). In 3-D at the Empire, the Chelsea, the Union Square, others.