Woke up at the ungodly hour of 9am yesterday (after a late night of indulgences) to attend the sneak preview of Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Let's get right to it.I had no intention of watching this movie as a paying customer; free passes were what lured me in. Thankfully. The movie was filmed entirely in 3D and they don't wait to get into it - the first cheap in-your-face appears about 4 minutes after the credits. And it's gross-out nature entertained the kiddies in the hall. Some of the effects were silly (I'm looking at you, measuring-tape-gag) and some were fantastic (yo-yo scene? wicked). Clocking in at 92 minutes, I am impressed they sustained that level of special effects production for that long. I'm also impressed it captivated my attention enough that I didn't fall asleep.
Other points: the script and delivery were pretty bad, but you're not watching this movie for its witticisms and philosophy. Brendan Fraser seems unable to sell us his "I'm a geology professor" line - that guy will always be Encino Man to me. Seth Meyers is his usual smarmy self; I'm waiting for when he pulls an Adam Sandler and get us all serious on us. Anita Briem's Hannah was a lot of fun and Josh Hutcherson didn't completely irritate me as a child actor.
If you're going to see it, and I'm not saying you should, do yourself a favour and watch it in a venue with the biggest screen possible (IMAX, where available) so you can take full advantage of the nifty glasses (that you get to keep!). 2.5 out of 5 stars.
PS: though it has no bearing on my review, the Canadian references? Cheap but funny. Yes, someone mentioned Ottawa (not Toronto) when referring to moving to Canada! Shocking, that.
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