Journey to the
Center of the Earth
*** out of ****

The movie Journey to the Center of the Earth is so far past Coolville it might actually use the word Coolville. It’s a corny family flick with aw-shucks-golly-gee characters, really bad special effects and lots of nerdy talk designed to put a little information into the kids’ entertainment.

And I liked it!?! I’m surprised just typing that out. I liked Journey to the Center of the Earth, lameness and all. It has a fun energy to it, never takes itself too seriously, and seems to be perfectly aware and fine with how uncool it is, which in turn makes it, dare I say, a bit cool.

Brendan Fraser, king of the cheeseball leading men, stars as Trevor, a scientist who’s watching over his nephew, Sean (Josh Hutcherson), for the week.

Trevor’s brother/Sean’s father went missing years ago during a mysterious expedition. It’s not long before Trevor and Sean, after making some startling quick discoveries, are following the same path that just might prove the astounding world of dinos and electric birds Jules Verne wrote about in the titular novel is indeed fact.

There’s not a lot of meat to the plot. Sean finally comes to terms with his relative’s death. Trevor ... more or less does the same thing. And there’s a love interest, of course, the travel guide Hannah (Anita Briem). The three basically run around a lot and crack wise, and it works in a guilty pleasure way.

I’m a bit scared to watch Journey a second time, because I suspect it does not hold up all that well, but as a one-shot diversion, it’s surprisingly adequate.