A standard buddy-cop action movie dressed up for the holidays. It has some facinating world building and leaves some unfortunate story threads. (Why bring up that the kid didn’t know his father if it wasn’t important?)
Score: 0.5
Characters
At first, I thought the characters were flat, but around half-way through the movie, I started to see their depth… for an action movie anyway.
The two main heroes were the disillusioned cop and the criminal with a heart of gold.
The supernaturals were far more interesting. Their take on Santa was fun and interesting, and I’d love to see more about M.O.R.A.
Score: 1
Dialogue
There were plenty or great quips and ridiculous dialogue said with a straight face. The speech from Jack to his son at the end was nice and heartfelt.
Score: 1
Visuals and Music
The visuals were great. Lots of over-the-top action and special effects. The fight scenes and camera work were done cleanly and made it easy to follow.
The music was good but could have been done so much better by integrating more holiday music into the action scenes.
Score: 0.5
Fun
This was a movie made for fun. Everyone in the family liked it and we all finished with a smile. It also had a lot of great supernatural and fantasy elements that made me happy.
Score: 1
Overall
This is a Christmas action movie mixed with a fantasy. It’s not the most original plot, but the setting and action is worth the watch.
The movie adheres really closely to the original novel. I’m impressed that they were able to create a world where the book exists and then manage to follow almost exactly the same plot.
I’m impressed at the funeral scene where they spent the time to let the two male characters grieve and cry on camera. It’s not often you see men show emotions.
I like that they made the guide a woman and made her hyper competent, but I could have done without the awkward love story.
Score: 0.5
Journey 2
The movie doesn’t follow the story line of the book but that’s probably a good thing. The code breaking at the beginning and the diverse cast is awesome. I found the movie lagged a little as they traipsed around the island from one set piece to another.
The emotion in this one felt a little stilted compared to the first. The “pecs” talk was awkward until the berry part.
It’s a very linear movie without much surprise.
Score: 0.5
Characters
Journey 1
There are three characters in the movie. The dorky scientist that morphs into an action hero, the scared kid who goes on an adventure, and the beautiful and competent mountain guide with daddy issues. The movie spends very little time on any development for the characters, even forgetting the scientists awkwardness mid-movie in order to have him punching things and ripping off his sleeves. They are static but not offensive or flat.
Score: 0.5
Journey 2
The sullen kid became a sullen teen. The rest of the cast is entertaining if borderline annoying. The Rock infuses his character with enough charisma to make him likeable as does Michael Caine.
Vanessa Hudgens is great but has no real reason to fall for the charmless main hero. Luis Guzmán’s character is absolutely fantastic, funny and relatable.
Score: 0.5
Dialogue
Journey 1
The banter between the three characters ranges from dumb to entertaining. Thankfully there’s a lot more quips than awkward flirting.
Score: 0.5
Journey 2
The dialogue between the love interests is stilted and awkward, hopefully on purpose, same with the dialogue overall. Other than a few good lines it was pretty bad.
Score: 0
Visuals and Music
Journey 1
This movie was designed to be shown in 3D in the height of 3D stupidity. To the point where they added extra gags just for the effect. I hate that. The technology and special effects should always work for the story not the other way around. Despite that, the special effects were passable and the scenery was cool.
The music was utterly forgettable but not bad.
Score: 0.5
Journey 2
The special effects are enhanced and take much too much time from the meagre story. (I sound like a grumpy critic.) It’s pretty, but not great. Again, the 3D for 3D’s sake is tiresome.
The soundtrack is meh, nothing exciting. I enjoyed the songs.
Score: 0.5
Fun
Journey 1
I like the book, I liked the old movie from the 50’s, and I had fun with this one. There’s thrills and adventure throughout along with two very pretty leads. I also enjoyed how much my daughter got into the film and reacted to the young boy’s perils.
Score: 1
Journey 2
I’m not as big a fan of the books this was based on. I liked Treasure Island, hated Gulliver’s Travels, and was indifferent towards Mysterious Island. There were a lot of exciting moments but the fun was in the, rarer, character interactions.
Score: 0.5
Overall
Journey 1
This is a fun, easy, and exciting movie. Not the greatest and maybe a little forgettable but fun to watch.
Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5
Journey 2
There was too much time spent of visual gags and action set pieces when this sort of story is supposed to showcase the characters in between. The action often replaces character development instead of accelerating it.
Overall it was fun, but lacked substance.
Final Score: 2 Stars out of 5
S.M. Carrière and I discussed and reviewed Journey to the Center of the Earth from 1958 on the Night at the Round Table. Have a look here:
