While the naysayers of Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D will point to its 1959 classic predecessor, the new film succeeds in nearly everything it attempts. The only real down side is the fact that never really aspires to be more than a fun 3D escapist romp. To be sure, Journey has at least two major hurdles to overcome: the first film which starred Pat Boone, and the novel by Jules Verne.

Like a lot of films that languished for years in development hell, Journey met with its own bumps and twists, but those two major obstacles would have to be dealt with. In what is a classic modern avoidance tactics, script writers Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin chose to simply bypass both by referring to a world of “Verneians,” where certain people believe that Verne wrote his book based on fact, not fiction. Although I’m tempted to find out if such a group of people really exists, it’s just not that interesting an idea to pursue, so I’ll just move on.

Such illustrates both the success and the flaws of the film. By not giving into the challenge of adapting a 19th century story to the 21st century, director Eric Brevig is able to work free of any imposing need to meet expectations. This is a good thing, since clearly expectations are not really that high to begin with. Journey is Brevig’s first film as director, and took the helm with more than two decades of experience as a visual effects supervisor of a wide range of films including effects-heavy films like Scrooged (1988), Total Recall (1990), Hook (1991), Peter Pan (2003), and The Day After Tomorrow (2004).

After reviewing his past experience, I’m convinced that Brevig has gotten off to a nice start as director, and capably carried the film through a predictable, formulaic conclusion. While I could be easily tempted to say that being predictable and formulaic is a bad thing, it really isn’t. This film is already light years ahead of a few other major big-budget disasters (Speed Racer being one of them), and it’s nice to have a good, mindless popcorn movie that’s actually somewhat entertaining.

The 3D element of the film is what makes the film both succeed and fail, which isn’t nearly the contradiction that one might think it is. Its success is in the shock and awe that only 3D can bring, with all of the theme-park ride elements one can expect. The action carries our heroes (and us) through deep tunnels, a mine cart ride that is a near-complete recreation of the similar scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and of course, plenty of creatures to both delight and fright its audience.

The failure of Journey is that it falls into the same trap that so many 3D films have in years past – in relying on the 3D visuals in an attempt to flesh out a very two-dimensional story. It is simplistic in its very nature, and has the distinction of being a film that requires no cognitive reasoning whatsoever… in fact, it’s better if you shut down your brain while you watch it.

The story follows Professor Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) as he and his estranged nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) follow a path laid out by his missing brother Max (and Sean’s father) into the center of the earth. They’re led by Hanna Ásgeirsson, and manage to find the bizarre world-under-a-world, and must find a way back out past strange plants, creatures, and a dinosaur or two.

Welp, that’s the plot. All of it. It moves the characters through with very little fluff or development required (or even attempted). The film is an exercise in mediocrity, and never even attempts to aspire to much more. It’s runtime of 92 minutes is just right, as is everything else in the film – merely “just right.”

I see films like Journey to be a plum line between the good and the bad; their existence is to provide an example of how packaged a film can be to make it work; alas, it remains as an uninspired work that gives its audience little to do other than much their popcorn.

As such, it is a film that entertains, rarely distracts, and is perfect for a Saturday matinee, and fills the space in multiplexes as moviegoers await the movies we really want to see. In short, it’s great 3D, but flaws really show when the glasses come off.

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