Viaje al Centro de la Tierra 2: La Isla Misteriosa

The 17-year-old Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) receives a coded signal and his stepfather Hank (Dwayne Johnson) helps him to decipher the message. They find that Sean's grandfather Alexander Anderson (Michael Caine) has found the mysterious island in the Pacific described by Julio Verne and two other writers in their novels.

The stubborn Sean wants to travel to the coordinates and Hank decides to buy the tickets and travel with the teenager to a small island nearby the location. They rent an old helicopter owned by the locals Gabato (Luis Guzmán) and his teenage daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) and the group heads to the unknown spot. Along their journey, they cross a hurricane and crash in the island. They find a beautiful and dangerous place, surrounded by forests, volcanoes with lava of gold and menacing life forms. The meet also the old Alexander and Hank discovers that the island is sinking. Now their only chance to survive is to find the legendary Nautilus.

"Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is a movie with a trailer that is better than the film itself. The lame screenplay begins in a fast pace, with Hank and Sean guessing to quickly the message. The story is very weak and the film is supported by the special effects only. The spoiled Sean and the rude Alexander are detestable characters and Gabato is stupid and annoying and never funny as supposed to be. Hank is multi- skilled in codes, hydraulic and electric engineering, medicine, and music and diving. In the end, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is a very disappointing adventure. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Viagem 2: A Ilha Misteriosa" ("Journey 2: The Mysterious Island")

Somewhere in Hollywood there are people who think children are morons and when they set up to make a kid movie, they do it starting with this premise. Morons they may be, but not in the sense their brains don't work well, but because they don't have enough experience. As such, this kind of films appear to me made for retarded (in the real sense of the word) people.

As a sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth from 2008, it is not that bad. The only character remaining, though, is Josh Hutcherson's, so I was at first confused if this is the sequel to that film or to Race to Witch Mountain, which stared Dwayne Johnson and some kids. Also, all the characters are male but for a teen that has no real role in the film. So I was really missing Anita Briem.

The effects were not bad, rather average. The plot itself, taken from afar and with the grain of salt that one has to take with a movie made for children, had potential. I also liked how the characters completed one another, instead of the lone hero knowing and doing everything. However the script to this plot was so incredibly bad that I could not like it, no matter how much I tried.

Bottom line: a franchise dedicated to the sense of wonder and discovery in Jules Verne's books should make more of an effort for actual education. Dropping occasional (and conflicting) science facts that don't even apply to the situation is not enough. Also, having silly to the point of idiotic characters doesn't really inspire kids, either. I grew up with the books of Jules Verne. This entire series has nothing to do with them.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the 'sequel' of Journey to the Centre of Earth (starring Brendan Fraser). Actually, I really don't know why they consider it a sequel because the story is completely different – the only similarities are the author of the books in which the films were based on (Jules Verne) and the character of Sean Anderson that appears in both movies. I also found interesting that many people didn't know it was related to the other movie.

What we have here is a film that follows the same scheme of its predecessor – a lot of CGI and 3D effects, amazing and colorful scenarios, silly humor and nothing more. Journey 2 is a movie for all ages - specially the kids - so don't expect violent sequences or sex scenes with your favorite stars.

The plot is traditional and there is obviously those parallel stories - like the boy Sean(Josh Hutcherson) who falls in love with the charming Khailani (Vanessa Hudgens) and his relationship with his mother's boyfriend, Hank – played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson who shows us that the 'tough guys' can also be funny, charismatic and do movies that they don't have to kill a hundred people.

So, are you thinking about taking your kids to the movies? Well, take them to watch Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - they will be thrilled by it.

But, even if you don't have any kids, watch it. Who said that adults have only to watch serious and artistic movies? Sometimes a little bit of unpretentious fun is necessary in life - and this movie provides it (at least for me it did).

Not so much a sequel as a new story altogether comes this likable (if unnecessary) adventure about Sean Anderson, a callow youth and "Vernian" who receives an encoded message then becomes obsessed with the idea that it was sent by his absentee grandfather who may or may not have discovered a mythical island that may or may not really exist. Accompanied by his stepfather, a frugal pilot, and the pilot's attractive daughter, Sean travels across the Pacific to the island where they encounter an assortment of wonders but just as many dangerous perils. Uninspired, fairly predictable, but Johnson and Caine add much needed gravitas, Guzmán his trademark comic relief, there's some good effects and exciting moments now and again, but a subplot about parents and their kids doesn't really resonate. A good family-oriented fare, just nothing special. **

"We'll have all the wealth we'll ever need, just as long as we're together!" Kailani (Vanessa Hudgins)

If Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a parody of adventure movies (see the above quote), then I missed the humor, for there is enough cheese in the awful CGI to make a new moon. This loose sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth happily subs Dwayne Johnson for Brendan Fraser, but neither actor should include these third-rate adventures on their vitae.

Combining Jules Verne, Jonathan Swift, and Robert Louis Stevenson, Journey 2 takes the crew to a mysterious Island where Sean (Josh Hutcherson from Journey to the Center of the Earth) looks for his grandfather, Alexander( Michael Caine). When he does find him, we find an aging actor at the nadir of his career, overacting an eccentric adventurer with fake smiles and laughs to embarrass those of us who remember his marvelous Peachy in a superior adventure, The Man Who would be King. Wait, wait, maybe Caine is out-cheesed by Luis Guzman as a bumbling Latino father of the lovely Vanessa Hudgins, playing his daughter.

Johnson as Sean's step father has his moment singing "What a Wonderful World" on a ukulele around a campfire; yes, I am serious—see for yourself. No valley low enough for director Brad Peyton to go to achieve the peak of cheese.

With an island populated by dwarf elephants and sharks and giant bees (see the crew navigate these bugs to achieve an absurdity even Harry Potter in his games wouldn't attempt), we also find the original Verne Nautilus to get back home, which is where you'll comfortably be but briefly until you check your bank account to assess how much this non-adventure cost you and your family. Or why it was worth it to see Journey 2 in 3-D when 2-D is embarrassing enough.

Better to turn on reruns of Gilligan's Island.