So too does the added frisson of new-wave 3D, which gets that ViewMaster effect with compositions emphasizing foreground and background-wisps of mist in the frame's fore often help the illusion of depth (Brevig gives a cheeky cameo to a stereopticon). One of the most heavily promoted sequences, involving toothy flying fish, features the film's least acceptable effects, but he use of Icelandic locations goes a long way to making the film palatable. The dialogue is no great shakes (Trevor: "Doesn't it just blow your mind?" Hannah: "My mind is blown, yes."), but at least the story extols the virtues of scientific field work (while overstating its thrills).īrevig, who supervised effects on such Spielberg productions as Hook and Men in Black, crafts a mine-car roller-coaster ride that's a straight rip from the family-action maestro (as for the rampaging T-rex, Steve's been there and done that too). Once the trio falls into a seemingly bottomless pit, it's a nonstop tour of fantastic sights (giant dandelions and mushrooms), bizarre phenomena (a floating field of magnetic rocks), and threatening creatures (carnivorous plants). As for plot development, it's one thing after another. The story is simple: following the trail of "Vernians" who took dear old Jules literally, tectonic-physics professor Trevor Anderson (Fraser), his 13-year-old nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson of Bridge to Terabithia), and mountain guide Hannah Ásgeirsson (Anita Briem) travel thousands of miles into the Earth to "a world within the world" in a scientific pursuit that almost claims their lives.
Of course, the other gimmick of the film is right there in the title, a 3D treatment that will take you back to the days you spent with your ViewMaster, or perhaps rep house screenings of cheesefests like House of Wax.
The special effects are often painterly and decidedly fantastical, the science is exalted but junky, and the leading man is Brendan Fraser. Though one of the gimmicks of Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is that Jules Verne's 1864 novel was a non-fiction account, the film by longtime effects whiz/first-time director Eric Brevig has a winking, kid-friendly sense of unreality.
0 kommentar(er)
