Journey to The Center of The Earth in 3D

The problem with 3D movies is that they are made for 3D. Not that there’s really anything wrong with that. After a couple of hours you get used to tree limbs in the corners and the occasional thing jumping out of the screen. It’s all in fun after all. And Journey to the Center of The Earth in 3D was fun.

What was a bit of a surprise was the fact that it cost an extra two dollars to see it-I suppose this is to cover the cost of the snazzy 3D glasses they hand you with your ticket. They are marked- not sung lasses-clearly they don’t do a lot of proofing in China. The movie was worth an extra couple of bucks, but it would have been nice to see that on the webpage before heading down there.

There were a couple of Previews of other 3D movies-the one that looked the most impressive was a computer cartoon called Fly Me To The Moon about three flies that want to go to the moon during the Apollo years. The space shots were so cool in 3D that I want them to make a real movie and forget this crap about flies. I may have to go and see that one.

Ok, Journey to The Center of The Earth in 3D was a pretty good movie. Since it stars Brendan Frasier it’s not like your expecting Citizen Kane or The Godfather anyway. It’s a fairly predictable story about our hero and his sappy nephew and a hot Icelandic chick they pick up along the way who seems to channel Laura Croft on command. There are all kinds of nifty 3D things happening in the film, antennae pop forward, fish fly by, Brendan spits into the screen, and just about everything that can be given depth, is given depth. Fog and water and dust and birds and fish and leafs and plants and well, everything is given the 3D treatment. Part of the effect of all of this is that you are a bit wobbly after the film is over and you stagger out of the theater.

3D is not really good on fast cuts, as the eye takes a moment to catch up with what is going on and it is a jarring feeling that is used to good effect a couple of times for haunted house type shocks and frights. The 3D effects were pretty good for the most part-with the weak link being, as in so many films these days, the horrid CGI. Fake looking computer fish and fake looking computer sea monsters and a fake looking T-Rex all detracted from the 3D effects. The CGI Venus Flytraps looked pretty damned good though-so it was not a total wash. And of course, the entire Center of the Earth was CGI.

It was silly and fun and the opening and closing credits had the best 3D effects in Journey to The Center of The Earth 3D-the Disney logo was awesome in 3D.

Sinister Rabbit liked the 1959 version with James Mason, and really, so did I. Of course, the Jules Verne book is pretty good, if you haven’t had a chance to read it you really should.

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