'Journey 2': wholesome sequel tackles unusual mission to a mysterious island
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"Journey 2," inspired by Jules Verne, features (from left) Luis Guzman, Vanessa Hudgens, Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson and Michael Caine.
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Michael Caine must be a jolly good sport.
Some time during the making of "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," a director had to say to him, "Sir Michael Caine, this is the part when you clamber atop a bee the size of a small plane, hold on tight and pretend to fly over the island."
And the two-time Oscar winner did it, for an adventure also starring Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzman and opening in 2-D, 3-D and IMAX.
It's a sequel to 2008's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" although it makes no mention of the Brendan Fraser character and replaces the actress who played the mom with Kristin Davis.
Mr. Hutcherson, who explored a lost world with his uncle in the first movie, returns as Sean, now a 17-year-old unhappily living in Dayton with his mother and stepfather, Hank (Mr. Johnson), a Navy veteran who runs a construction company. He helps Sean crack a cryptogram that proclaims, "The island is real."
- Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson and Michael Caine.
- Rating: PG for some adventure action and brief, mild language.
Further sleuthing suggests that, as in the original, Jules Verne may have been writing fact rather than fiction, and Sean's missing grandfather, Alexander, could be stranded on the island.
Hank, desperate to bond with his stepson, accompanies Sean to the South Pacific where they discover no boater will take them to the uncharted island, but an opportunistic helicopter pilot, Gabato (Mr. Guzman), and his daughter (Vanessa Hudgens) will, for a pretty penny.
They fly smack into lightning and hurricane-force winds, which tear the chopper apart and dump them on the beach of the mysterious island where they eventually encounter Sean's grandfather (Mr. Caine), lizards the size of dinosaurs, elephants no bigger than dogs and an imminent threat that could destroy the isle and them with it.
First Published February 10, 2012 12:00 am
