Perfect Family Movie: Journey 2 The Mysteries Island

 

In this follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit Journey to the Center of the Earth, the new 3D family adventure Journey 2: The Mysterious Island begins when young Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson, reprising his role from the first film) receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It's a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever. -- (C) Official Site

The 411 by Maria:

If you are looking for Oscar worthy performances, you won't find it here but what you will find is a great, family movie with laughs and action.

My kids are big fans of Josh Hutcherson since his Zathura days so we get happy when we see him.

The kids and I watched the movie and after it was over they wanted to watch it again. That is always a good sign. There are some cool special effects like a tiny elephant and the flight of the massively hairy bees which will have kids very interested.

Yes, there is a little love story as Sean (Josh) is very interested in Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) character but I think the lusty teen thing was mostly lost on them. It is very much played down.

Dwayne Johnson is his likable self as Hank and Luis Guzman is perfect as the weird bi-sexual dad of Hudgens. Honestly I have no idea if he is bi-sexual but there were some weird moments where I felt he was too interested in Hank but that is just me.

I loved Michael Cain as Sean's grandfather, part Indiana Jones, part Jurassic Park creator.

Fun for the whole family. The kids loved the special effects and Dwayne Johnson can pop his pecs anytime for me.

Cute despite being a silly adventure. Exactly the kind of movie kids want to see.

Disclaimer: I received a screener copy from Warner Brothers for the sole purpose of this review.