While the first "Journey..." movie with Hutcherson and Brandon Fraser had a very slight whiff of entertainment value and was even vaguely believable, this second installment, this time with Hutcherson and with "The Rock" subbing for Fraser, this time as a concerned step-father.
Hutcherson is continuing on his path as a young "Verneian" - i.e., someone who subscribes to Jules Verne's novels as though they were factual documents describing real places and experiences - and within 5 minutes manages to convince his step-father to fly him far away to the middle of the South Pacific to an island - sorry, a "mysterious island" - that is not known to actually exist.
Within the next 5 minutes they manage to convince a helicopter pilot (a pretty silly Luis Guzman) to do something that no pilot would ever do - i.e., fly into the middle of a thunderstorm - and then, of course, run across the "mysterious island."
The subsequent plot lines are basically superfluous. The story is a slap-dash bit of feeble CGI patchwork construction that almost never engages your attention. In fact, if you watch the credits you'll see no less than 10 different "visual effects" companies were contracted to make this movie. Lots of ridiculous and unbelievable monsters and insects and spiders. The pilot's young daughter - Vanessa Hudgens, who is there primarily to relieve the otherwise stupefying plot by wearing a sweat-soaked wife beater heaving with her cleavage - exists as the love interest for Hutcherson.
"Journey 2" basically feels like eating a bunch of Halloween candy - a quick rush here and there but at the end very little fulfillment. Skip it.
Hutcherson is continuing on his path as a young "Verneian" - i.e., someone who subscribes to Jules Verne's novels as though they were factual documents describing real places and experiences - and within 5 minutes manages to convince his step-father to fly him far away to the middle of the South Pacific to an island - sorry, a "mysterious island" - that is not known to actually exist.
Within the next 5 minutes they manage to convince a helicopter pilot (a pretty silly Luis Guzman) to do something that no pilot would ever do - i.e., fly into the middle of a thunderstorm - and then, of course, run across the "mysterious island."
The subsequent plot lines are basically superfluous. The story is a slap-dash bit of feeble CGI patchwork construction that almost never engages your attention. In fact, if you watch the credits you'll see no less than 10 different "visual effects" companies were contracted to make this movie. Lots of ridiculous and unbelievable monsters and insects and spiders. The pilot's young daughter - Vanessa Hudgens, who is there primarily to relieve the otherwise stupefying plot by wearing a sweat-soaked wife beater heaving with her cleavage - exists as the love interest for Hutcherson.
"Journey 2" basically feels like eating a bunch of Halloween candy - a quick rush here and there but at the end very little fulfillment. Skip it.