JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D

"We're still falling!"

After his brother went missing over ten years ago, Trevor Anderson (Fraser) had continued his work, analysing seismic readings from around the world. When his nephew Sean (Hutcherson) comes to stay, Trevor introduces him to his father's work but as they study the probes, Sean notices that one in Iceland has come online. Deciding to investigate, Trevor and Jason head to Iceland and hire local Hannah (Briem) as their mountain guide but as a storm rolls in, the trio are trapped in a cave. Reading more into his brother's research, Trevor realises that his sibling's favourite book, Jules Vern's 'The Journey to the Center of the Earth' might not actually be a work of fiction and they might have well discovered everything really exists.

As Hollywood struggles to come up with new ideas to bring audiences into cinema, studios have turned to technology to bring a new twist on a classic tale.

Jules Verne's classic novel 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' has been adapted to the big and small screen numerous times but this latest version by New Line Cinema and Walden Media brings 3D technology into the mix. 3D has come along way since audience had to sit in theatres wearing cardboard glasses with red and green lens. Now that digital projectors are been fitted in more and more multiplexes, the polarising lensed glasses, once only seen in extremely expensive amusement park rides, are now becoming common place in cinemas around the world. This brings a whole new dimension to filmmaking and allows studio to take the audience into the adventure.

This version of 'Journey to the Center of the Earth' isn't a complete retelling of the Verne novel but uses it as inspiration to say, 'What if the story in the book was real?' Here we have Professor Trevor Anderson, a scientist specialising in plate tectonics and volcanology but his classes are getting smaller and the University wants to shut down his lab. The lab was set up by his brother, who has been missing for over ten years, in order to collate the information from hundreds of probes placed around the world to measure seismic activity. Unfortunately only three of them now work but when his nephew Sean comes to stay while his mother moves them into their new Canadian home, the youngest notices that a fourth probe in Iceland is now working and the other three probes have the same readings as they did when Trevor's brother disappeared. Their only clue are the notes that his brother left inside his favourite novel, Jules Verne's 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', so Trevor and Sean head to Iceland to investigate. This is when the adventure really starts when they head to the probe, under the guidance of local mountaineer Hannah and discover that the probe might just be a device to discover a shaft to the centre of the Earth.

Along with the updating of the classic story, the use of the new 3D technology makes this movie stand out from the usual run of the mill family action adventures. While there is the trademark over the top, pushing, throwing and falling items towards the screen, 3D transforms the movie into a real roller coaster ride where you feel part of the movie, following the adventures into the depths of the centre of the Earth. This new technology brings something special to a film that would be just ok, without the 3D.

Brendan Fraser is no stranger to action adventure and he fits straight into the role of Professor Trevor Anderson. You can see he is really enjoying himself throughout, rising to the challenge of interacting with computer generated, 3D environments and situations. After making a splash in 'Zathura' and 'The Bridge to Terebithia', Josh Hutcherson continues to show that he is a young actor that has a bright future. Icelandic actress Anita Briem is also good as a strong female character Hannah, who does just as much rescuing as any male star every could.

'Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D' shows that the new technology can really enhance action adventure. While the movie is been released as normal without the new technology, the film is really run of the mill without it but it is still a good adventure made all the more watchable because of the three central performances. The movie really has to be watched in 3D however, as this is the future of live action adventures at the box office.

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The Mummy

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2008