Real-D, 3-D, is coming and this film is the first live action movie that showcases the technology. Many more such films are on their way, fortunately.
This film is really great for young children. They were the ones in the audience that were having the most fun: gasping out loud at the 3-D effects and clapping after the show was over.
For everyone else though, it has some problems. The 3-D special effects and underground set designs are great, but the story and characters are aimed at kids (not the parents and their kids, just the kids).
The story is basically about a professor that goes searching for his missing brother at a volcanic site in Iceland. Accompanied by a female mountain guide and his young nephew, they accidentally become entrapped in a cave. When they start looking for a way out, they end up falling deep under the ground and discover an underground realm ... and the story progresses from there.
As reasonably straightforward as the story sounds, there is no way to describe how full of plot holes and unrealistic depictions of reality are present. These are a problem in almost every scene. Perhaps the most memorable one is when the young nephew gets a cell phone call from his mom while he is at "the center of the Earth". That's really great cell service, sign me up.
While Brenden Frasier can be fun to watch, his character here is just not interesting. He's more a kid's version of an adult than a real one. In fact, the best acting seems to come from the kid (Josh Hutcherson). However, his character is about as predictable and clichéd as the other two. (If you're a young kid in the audience, this doesn't matter.)
The only thing this movie has going for it comes from the production end. Many of the special effects are like a ride at Disneyland. The very effective use of 3-D in lots of fun scenes is terrific - the roller-coaster-like mining cars scene, the hovering magnetic rock scene and more were all great. Also, the beautiful set designs of just about everything in the underground world was fantastic to look at.
So: if you you're a very young child, you have it made - this is like a ride at Disneyland. For everyone else ... it really is like Disneyland. Expect to get on the Dumbo ride; if you don't think too hard, it can be a little fun.
This film is really great for young children. They were the ones in the audience that were having the most fun: gasping out loud at the 3-D effects and clapping after the show was over.
For everyone else though, it has some problems. The 3-D special effects and underground set designs are great, but the story and characters are aimed at kids (not the parents and their kids, just the kids).
The story is basically about a professor that goes searching for his missing brother at a volcanic site in Iceland. Accompanied by a female mountain guide and his young nephew, they accidentally become entrapped in a cave. When they start looking for a way out, they end up falling deep under the ground and discover an underground realm ... and the story progresses from there.
As reasonably straightforward as the story sounds, there is no way to describe how full of plot holes and unrealistic depictions of reality are present. These are a problem in almost every scene. Perhaps the most memorable one is when the young nephew gets a cell phone call from his mom while he is at "the center of the Earth". That's really great cell service, sign me up.
While Brenden Frasier can be fun to watch, his character here is just not interesting. He's more a kid's version of an adult than a real one. In fact, the best acting seems to come from the kid (Josh Hutcherson). However, his character is about as predictable and clichéd as the other two. (If you're a young kid in the audience, this doesn't matter.)
The only thing this movie has going for it comes from the production end. Many of the special effects are like a ride at Disneyland. The very effective use of 3-D in lots of fun scenes is terrific - the roller-coaster-like mining cars scene, the hovering magnetic rock scene and more were all great. Also, the beautiful set designs of just about everything in the underground world was fantastic to look at.
So: if you you're a very young child, you have it made - this is like a ride at Disneyland. For everyone else ... it really is like Disneyland. Expect to get on the Dumbo ride; if you don't think too hard, it can be a little fun.