Hollow earth

Brendan Fraser dodges flying objects in the vacant family film Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

by CHRISTOPHER SYKES

At the risk of sounding like Abe Simpson, I fondly remember the good ol’ days when 3D glasses were, for the most part, found only in specially marked boxes of breakfast cereal and the odd comic book. You know, the one-blue-eye, one-red-eye spectacles I’m sure the scenesters will start wearing any day now while skinny-pantsing their way to Coda.

Like so many other things, cinema is nothing if not cyclical. While I was spared sitting through a spate of bad 3-D flicks during my own youth, thanks to lackluster performances in the early ’80s by the likes of Jaws 3D, Amityville 3D and Friday the 13th Part 3, the ball seems to be rolling again with studios eager to profit on that extra dimension. And they’ve learned from their mistakes—why target adult audiences with a gimmicky marketing ploy when you can go after the kids and their allowances instead?

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D stars Brendan Fraser as Trevor, a professor sceptically following in the footsteps of his rogue brother, who believed that the depictions in Jules Verne’s classic novel of another world at the earth’s core might contain some scientific merit. In an attempt to find concrete answers about his missing brother’s whereabouts and (dis)prove the theory once and for all, Trevor and his nephew Sean (played by Bridge to Terabithia star Josh Hutcherson) head to the volcanic isle of Iceland. After meeting up with a local mountain guide (Anita Briem of The Tudors), the threesome find themselves unexpectedly plummeting into the depths of Verne’s supposedly fictitious world.

You’re not going to hear any of George Carlin’s seven famous words while watching this squeaky-clean family film. Instead, expect a barrage of special effects solely intended to play off the audience’s unfamiliarity with having stuff seemingly fly at their heads from onscreen. These effects—which were done here in Montreal—hold your attention even if the storyline doesn’t. Expect a whole lot more of these films in the coming couple of years until the fad thankfully dies out again.

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
opens This friday, july 11

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