JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

US, 2008, 92 minutes, Colour.
Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutchison, Anita Briem.
Directed by Eric Brevig.

When a reviewer is surrounded by about sixty children at a press preview, the only thing to do is to surrender to the film and try to pick up the vibes of the children’s reactions. After they rightly screamed a bit at the opening nightmare and the prehistoric creatures reaching out towards their 3D glasses, they settled down and quietly and intently enjoyed the film. With some applause at the end.

It seems that the film-makers have read their target audience very well indeed. Children from about 9-14 will probably like the film a lot. Some of the fearsome creatures (with a penchant for huge teeth and snapping jaws) might be a bit much for younger audiences and the older teenagers will be off trying to see Wanted or some such adaptation of a graphic novel. Parents who go with their children will be satisfied that here is an adventure film, a family bonding film, without any crassness to disturb or upset, no icky romance – and bit of science (implausible as it actually is) that might generate its own interest and have some good study after-effect.

Well, it’s not exactly crass, but Brendan Fraser’s professor does spit his gargle straight at the audience for 3D effect (which did go over well with the young audience) and some of the creatures are also prone to that 3D spitting! When you’re on a good thing…

This is simplified Verne, far less elaborate than the popular 1959 version or the many film and television movies that have been made of Jules Verne’s classic. The core of the plot has been used her by writers Michael Weiss and the husband and wife team who adapted Nim’s Island, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin, but the characters have been reduced to three: Trevor, the professor who believes in the seismic theories of his disappeared brother, Max; Sean, Max’s thirteen year old son who never knew his father but misses him; and Hannah, the Icelandic guide whose father was a colleague of Max and who now shares their adventures as they set off to put the theories to the test and are quickly trapped in caves and, in trying to find their way out, fall down shafts, go on a terrific roller-coaster ride in trucks on the rails in the mine, hurtle thousands of miles down into the centre of the earth, discover sand and seas, huge rocks which float above crevices because of the magnetic field – but also giant-toothed piranhas, carnivorous plants, huge sea monsters and a rampaging T -Rex. But they are guided by some kindly and psychic phosphorescent blue birds of happiness.

The action moves quite quickly. The dangers seem real. The dinosaur would give you a fright, but the rolling magnetic stones are fascinating. The effects are, as teenagers and Kung Fu Pandas are prone to say these days, ‘awesome’.

The digital 3 D filming is of high quality, enhancing a matinee movie that succeeds in doing what it set out to do and gives entertainment pleasure to the young in heart of all ages.

1.The popularity of Jules Verne’s story? Filmed frequently for cinema and for television? A 19th century story brought into the 21st century? The credibility of the update?

2.The ordinary US life, homes, apartments, families? The contrast with scientific investigation? The contrast with Iceland and its terrain? The interiors of the earth, the caves, the mines, the shafts, the rollercoaster of carriages, the funnels, the land under the earth, the sea? The birds, the piranhas, the carnivorous plants, the dinosaur monsters, the T‑Rex? The heat, the magnesium? The geyser? The end of the story in Italy? The rousing score?

3.The 3D effects, for presenting the people, within the sets and the landscapes, the stunts, the creatures – and objects being thrown at the audience?

4.Trevor’s initial nightmare, his brother and his death, waking? The boring lecturer? His laboratory going closed down, the vengeful professor, the assistant? Going home, his sister’s arrival, Sean and his not wanting to be with his uncle? Trevor accepting him, making efforts?

5.The sister on the phone, Sean and his lack of interest, his age, missing his father? The box of his father’s possessions, the baseball glove? The copy of Jules Verne, the information written in the book, going to the laboratory, Sean becoming involved in his uncle’s enterprise, going with him to Iceland?

6.Iceland, on the plane, Googling for information, the institute? Travelling, getting lost? Meeting Hannah, her welcome? The stories, her dislike of Vernians? The decision to guide them, going on the trek?

7.The trek, the mountains, the difficulties of the terrain? The explosion, their being trapped in the cave? Using their ingenuity, Trevor being lowered on the rope, his falling, cut, landing? The others coming down, Sean and his fear, climbing down? The mineshaft, the rollercoaster of the carriers, their fall down the huge shaft, discovering the land under the earth, seeing the phosphorous and birds? The information about how to get out, forty-eight hours, the increasing heat, building the raft, sailing, the piranha fish, the sea-monsters, the magnetic stones? Discovering Max’s grave?

8.Max’s message to Sean, the bonding with his dead father? The gift of the compass? The sailing, Sean on the sail, his being blown away? The dinosaur pursuit? Using his compass, using his wits, crossing the magnetic stones, rolling with them? The bird as his guiding light? The rescue?

9.Hannah, tough, saving Trevor, her skills, her being rescued when weighed down in the water? The accompaniment through the adventures, her decision, her personality?

10.Trevor, his hating field work, bravery, his being saved by Hannah, his memories of Max, reading the book, the scientific evidence for seismic movement, the explanation of volcanoes, the lava, the heat increasing, the raft? Sailing, the danger of the fish? The search for Sean? Pursued by the dinosaur? Going to the geyser?

11.The Vernians, Jules Verne’s vision from the 19th century, used as the basis for this film, the references to the book, the illustrations of the book? What if …?

12.The physical impossibility of this kind of journey to the centre of the earth? The implausibility – for example their falling thousands of kilometres so quickly? Audiences accepting this was science fantasy?

13.Arriving in Italy, the vineyard, the owner, the diamonds – and the irony of Sean when they found the diamonds and his keeping some?

14.The film as family friendly, geared to the audience interest and expectations and involvement from ten to fourteen?