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80Fraser on form, 3D dinosaurs, geology lessons, phosphorecent hummingbirds, killer flying fish, theme park rides, Icelandic babe - what's not to like? It skews young, but is everything an 8-12 year-old could want. Older siblings and parents will have nothing to complain about either.
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80Terrific family entertainment, an action comedy on a par with "Night at the Museum" and "National Treasure."
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75You don't believe a second of it, but it's easy to enjoy, partly because of the casting of all three leads.
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75The most entertaining 3-D movie I've ever seen.
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75A legit action movie.
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70The picture works because Brevig and his actors -- not to mention his effects -- maintain a sense of humor and lightness. It doesn't hurt that Fraser, a fine actor who's made a name for himself not with his serious performances (which are reliably solid) but for his recurring role in the "Mummy" series.
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70A more unavoidable obstacle here is that there's not much in the way of plot -- the story is in the tour through the labyrinthian intimacies of inner Earth. As such, it's an f/x wizard's dream, and Brevig makes the most of it.
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67Journey is just the new version of a 1950s comin'-at-ya roller coaster, with a tape measure, trilobite antennae, and giant snapping piranha thrust at the audience.
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67It's harmless fun, and it makes for an often impressive display of the latest generation of computer-wizardry. But the enterprise is utterly void of substance: instantly forgettable and about as enriching as a rerun of "Johnny Quest."
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67It's a thrill ride not to be missed.
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63I don't know if 3-D could improve all movies (nothing could make "The Love Guru" funny) but it sure works here.
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63A brisk, undemanding adventure aimed squarely at the family market, Journey is completely passable in 2-D. But viewing it through 3-D glasses not only quadruples the movie's entertainment value, it also explains why characters are constantly thrusting things at the camera.
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63Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy but fun, fun, fun.
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63This dumbed-down spin on Jules Verne's classic adventure tale was devised as a kid-friendly roller-coaster ride, and it delivers the goods. Whether anyone over the age of eight wants the goods is another matter altogether.
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63For a harmless "Indiana Jones" knock-off, Journey to the Center of the Earth has an awful lot riding on it.
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63Not exactly a movie in the usual sense, not exactly a ride, Journey is more of a virtual theme-park simulation and possibly a milestone of immersive entertainment.
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63So the science in this film of Jules Verne's science fiction classic is ludicrous. Well, how's the fiction? Not terrible.
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60This first feature by veteran visual effects supervisor Eric Brevig has its transporting, if benign, charms.
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60The cast hits the right notes. Fraser, switching between affable good sport and heroic goofball, clearly doesn't mind this stuff. He realized early on with "George of the Jungle," "Dudley Do-Right" and the "Mummy" movies that his B-movie build and persona is perfect for live-action cartoons.
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60Many have described "Journey" as a 3D film dumbed down to a theme park attraction. However, its visual splendor would have left Walt Disney weeping and Sergei Eisenstein preaching of cinema's second coming.
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60It would be barely passable under normal circumstances, but in 3-D it's a circus of excellent FX.
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60Neither the acting nor the story matters much here; the movie is simply the sum of its 3D effects.
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60Surprising as it may be, given an unpromising trailer, the 3D update of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth turns out to be perfectly charming as well as predictably eye-popping.
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58It's inoffensive and shiny and competent and kids will dig it, and I can already barely remember a single thing that happened.
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58Like its early predecessors, it's a nominally fun trip, but it's tissue-thin and instantly forgettable.
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58It has its modicum of suspense, and Brendon Fraser, who stars as intrepid professor Trevor Anderson – who does indeed journey to the center of the Earth – is his usual heroically affable self.
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50This is a fairly bad movie, and yet at the same time maybe about as good as it could be. There may not be an 8-year-old alive who would not love it.
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50Not so much a movie as an amusement park ride.
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50With 3-D, a little goes a long way and, in the absence of a legitimate script with credible characters, the fun dries up long before the running time has expired.
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50Ultimately, Journey to the Center of the Earth's minor-league visual pleasures will be most enjoyed by those with the smallest number of celluloid reference points, preferably those who have started going to the movies after "Jurassic Park" or, better yet, the Harry Potter films.
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50If this movie is not a ride, then what is it? One thing it may not be, quite, is a movie.
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50As daft, outlandish, and speedy as it needs to be, and, for all its newfangled effects, touchingly old-fashioned in its reverence for the Jules Verne novel that inspired it.
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50Eric Brevig, making his feature directing debut after a long career as a visual effects supervisor, lurches from one CG set piece to the next, though he's helped along by Fraser's easy comic touch.
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40Provides tepid but fun entertainment.
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If the 3D here is better than average, SLIGHTLY, the rest of the movie brings it way, way down--not quite to the center of the earth, but at least a good six feet under.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 41
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Mixed: 4 out of 41
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Negative: 15 out of 41
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Dafuq.
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It's not completely unbearable, but the script is trash, and the CGI effects are mediocre at best.
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5It is original but does not entirely convince.