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"Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" looks like nothing so much as one of those live-action adventures that Disney used to grind out in the 1950s — and hey, here's Captain Nemo's Nautilus to prove it. Also, a tree house to humble "Swiss Family Robinson," which contains a short-wave radio that has been assembled from old spoons, I think I heard.

The movie is very, very loosely a sequel to " Journey to the Center of the Earth ," with only two connections: It's inspired by a Jules Verne novel, and it co-stars young Josh Hutcherson as the hero Sean. The film opens with him on a motorcycle and being chased by cops, but not to worry; all he did was break into a satellite-tracking station to boost the power on a message for help sent by his grandfather from a lost island in the Pacific.

Sean, whose father in the first film ( Brendan Fraser ) has disappeared (from the cast, anyway), now has to deal with Hank ( Dwayne Johnson , aka the Rock). Hank is his new stepdad. Josh and Hank make friends by decrypting grandfather's message; Hank glances at it and intuits that the two-syllable words stand for dots and one-syllable words stand for dashes, which means Grandpa has had enough free time on his remote island to figure out a way to make Morse code several times longer than it previously was. Unanswered is why grandfather would encrypt a call for help.

This Hank, what a swell guy. He proposes that the two of them fly off to the Pacific and find Grandpa. On arrival somewhere, they hire a tourist helicopter pilot named Gabato, played by Luis Guzman as another one of those low-comedy guys who gets all worked up and is scared of stuff. (I enjoyed a reprise of this classic shot: Gabato runs toward camera, falls on stomach, looks up …and up … and up.)

Gabato has a daughter named Kailani ( Vanessa Hudgens ), a Polynesian beauty who wears a tank top and Daisy Dukes throughout the film. These four fly off in the helicopter, are trapped in a Force Five hurricane that rips it to pieces and are lucky enough to find themselves alive on the beach of the Mysterious Island.

This is your complete island. It has an active volcano; waterfalls with no apparent water sources streaming down cliffs; elephants the size of dogs, and giant lizards that are nowhere big enough to account for the size of their eggs. (Josh falls through the shell of one, splashes in a pool of yolk and is attacked by an unborn lizard chick.) Also on the island is the lost city of Atlantis, even though it's in the wrong ocean, and bees so big Sean and Kailani can both ride on the back of one. And Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather, played by Michael Caine , who will not be editing this role into his videos about how to act in movies.

I hope you understand I enjoyed most of this stuff. The director, Brad Peyton , apparently intended it as a genial parody of countless other movies in this spirit. There is, for example, a scene were Sean, Grandpa, Kailani and Gabato all sit around the old campfire and listen while Hank strums a ukulele and sings "What a Wonderful World." And I mean he sings it: every word of three verses. It's not every day you see the Rock channeling Gene Autry.

Sean deduces that Verne's novel contains everything they need to know, and this comes in handy when the volcano explodes, and the island begins to sink into the sea. Sure enough, Captain Nemo's submarine is still hidden underwater. Hank and Sean, trusting Verne, dive off a high cliff, and while holding their breath and swimming underwater, are able to (1) find the sub, (2) open the hatch by tugging and twisting it, (3) swim inside, (4) push a lever to fill it with air, and (5) get the power generator working by jump-starting it with an electric eel.

This is transcendently goofy. It isn't a "good" movie in the usual sense (or most senses), but it is jolly and good-natured, and Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson are among the most likable of actors. Johnson is such a good sport, he even shows young Sean how to impress girls by flexing your pecs so quickly that nuts will ricochet off them. I can't think of any reason to pay extra for the 3-D.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Journey 2: Mysterious Island (2012)

Rated PG for some adventure action, and brief mild language

Josh Hutcherson as Sean

Dwayne Johnson as Hank

Luis Guzman as Gabato

Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani

Michael Caine as Alexander

Directed by

• Brad Peyton

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

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It has been four years since the events of the first movie. Seventeen-year-old Sean Anderson ( Josh Hutcherson ) is caught by the police after a brief chase on his dirtbike which ended with him driving into a swimming pool while trying to evade them. Minutes later, his stepfather Hank ( Dwayne Johnson ) arrives where a police officer (Stephen Caudill) who is friends with Hank tells him that Sean had broken into a remote satellite research center. The police officer also tells Hank that he has talked Mr. and Mrs. McGillicutty (the owners of the swimming pool) out of pressing charges. Hank takes Sean home where his mother Elizabeth ( Kristin Davis ) is not pleased with his actions or the fact that he and Hank don't get along well.

Hank discovers that Sean had broken into a satellite research center in order to boost the signal of a code he'd received from someone he suspects is Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather who had been missing for two years. Wanting to bond with his stepson the next day, Hank helps Sean decipher the code of Jules Verne characters which lead to three books: Treasure Island , Gulliver's Travels , and Verne's own Mysterious Island . Using the book's individual island maps, Hank suspects they are books of the same island and uses a back light in order to make them all one completed land mass with the coordinates to its location. Hank manages to convince Liz to let the both of them go in search of the island.

They arrive in Palau where their need of transportation to this dangerous part of the ocean attracts a Palauan helicopter tourism guide Gabato ( Luis Guzman ) and his daughter Kailani ( Vanessa Hudgens ) who Sean develops an immediate crush on. They agree to fly them out to the island for $3,000, but the helicopter gets caught in a category 5 hurricane and they crash into the Pacific, waking up on the island.

Crossing into the island, they discover one of the laws of the Mysterious Island that all animals big are small and all animals small are gigantic (inspiring Lilliput from Gulliver's Travels ). The crew find tiny elephants and giant butterflies, which are the first creatures they discover on the island. The group decided to explore further into the island.

After coming across a massive frill-necked lizard when they come across her egg clutch, they are rescued by Alexander ( Michael Caine ) who takes them to a large hut he'd built from the wreckage of the ship that brought him to the island called the Blue-Eyed Lucy. He has a radio, but due to the positioning of the communications satellite it would be two weeks before they could call for help.

The next morning, Alexander leads the group to the lost city of Atlantis which is usually submerged in the ocean and he also calculated that the island sinks once every 70 years. However, the sea water appearing from the ground is the evidence that Hank sees that leads him to prove that the calculations are wrong, and that the island will sink in a couple of days. Their only means of salvation seems to be the legendary Nautilus (Captain Nemo's submarine), hidden somewhere on the island. Kailani enters Nemo's crypt and finds his journal, which has the whereabouts of the ship in a cave at Poseidon's Cliffs. They decided to go to that cave through the heart of the island.

They mount giant bees in order to fly over a high ridge and make up time, but encounter large birds that try to devour the bees. After saving Kailani's life, Sean crashes and dislocates his ankle. Hank and Alexander later patch up Sean's ankle the best they can. Afterward, they have a good moment when Hank sings his rendition of "What a Wonderful World" to ease Sean's pain.

The next morning, the water has risen greatly and Hank deduces that the island will sink in a matter of hours, not days. Gabato is missing having gone toward the island's golden volcano (which was the inspiration for Treasure Island ) in search for the funds to give his daughter a better life. While Alexander and Kailani go after him, Sean and Hank head for Poseidon's Cliffs to look for the Nautilus. Alexander also finally calls Hank by his preferred name, as up to that point he only called him "Henry" and the family makes up.

To deal with the rising water after finding the Nautilus' cave underwater, Sean and Hank make makeshift oxygen tanks and dive down fifty feet in order to obtain the Nautilus and are nearly killed by a giant electric eel. They are unable to power the ship however because the vessel's batteries being 140 years old have run down. They find a way to power the submarine from the electric eel's electricity.

Meanwhile, Kailani and Alexander find Gabato and convince him to escape with them instead of trying for the golden volcano. They head toward the shore as the island begins to suddenly and violently rip itself apart. The golden volcano starts to erupt violently, pouring lava flows all over the area. Highly flammable lava bombs are thrown from the golden volcano into the air and suddenly land on the sinking island's debris. Sean and Hank use a harpoon to get an electrical jump start from the electric eel swarming around them and they are able to power the machine, just in time to pick up the others who had fallen into the water. Gabato pilots the submarine out of harm's way while Hank and Sean fire torpedoes into the path of falling island debris. As they clear the dangers, Kailani finally kisses Sean for his bravery.

Six months later, Kailani and Gabato are well off. Gabato is now running the most popular tourist attraction on Palau providing tours aboard the Nautilus and Kailani is attending college. Kailani goes to visit Sean on his birthday. While they are celebrating, Alexander shows up with a book for Sean's birthday present. Sean opens it to find Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon , Alexander's suggestion for the next adventure with the family to which Liz protests. Hank replies "What could possibly go wrong? It's only the moon!"

During the credits, the mini-elephants from the earlier scene are swimming underwater over Atlantis.

• Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, Sean's stepfather and a former Navy code breaker.
• Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather who is also the father of Max and Trevor Anderson.
• Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson, Hank's stepson who wants to find his missing grandfather on the Mysterious Island.
• Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani Laguatan, Sean's love interest who is part of the father-daughter tour guide team.
• Luis Guzman as Gabato Laguatan, Kailani's father, who is part of the father-daughter tour guide team.
• Kristin Davis as Elizabeth "Liz" Anderson-Parsons, Sean's mother.

• 1 Carl Nargle

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Blu-ray Review

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Blu-ray Review. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine and Vanessa Hudgens.

One of the oddest franchises of the last couple of years is the Journey series. The first film, Journey to the Center of the Earth (which starred Brendan Fraser ) managed to make $100 Million domestic, and inspired a sequel with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson stepping if for Fraser. It too made over $100 Domestic and much, much more internationally. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Johnson, Josh Hutcherson , Michael Caine and Vanessa Hudgens in an adventure on an island that reveals itself to be Atlantis. Our review of Journey 2 The Mysterious Island on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

Hutcherson plays Sean, who starts the film being chased by the police. He broke into to a transceiver so he could get a coded message. His little stunt gets him arrested, and his stepfather Hank (Johnson) gets him out of trouble. But the message reveals the location of a mysterious island of legend. They go to find it, and recruit Gabato (Luiz Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Hudgens) to take them there via helicopter. The copter crashes, but there’s no movie if they don’t find the mysterious island, which is filled with all sorts of wonder, from miniature elephants to gigantic lizards. It’s there they meet Sean’s Grandfather Alexander (Caine), who has been sending out the signal. He’s found Atlantis, and he knows it will sink to the bottom of the ocean in a couple of years, but those years become hours when his calculations prove wrong, so they have to find Captain Nemo’s Nautilus to escape.

There’s not much of a story here, and the romantic interest between Hudgens and Hutcherson is pre-ordained. But Johnson shows that he is a movie star in the film by nearly single-handedly making interesting choices, and by being funny. He more than makes up for Hudgens, who might attractive as all get out, but can’t manage to show fear without cracking a smile. When asked to do pretty much anything, she’s at a loss. Guzman helps, as does Caine. But Hudgens should be banned from cinema as anything but eye candy until she takes some acting lessons.

The plotting of the film basically says that the film is a ride, so there’s going to be something CGI-exciting every couple of minutes. But the performers are engaging enough to make the film interesting, even if the idea of stepfather’s being accepted is never trusted to be subtext. It’s text. I guess it’s for little children. Still, painless.

Warner Brothers presents the film on Blu-ray in widescreen (1.85:1) and in 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio. The transfer is excellence. The Blu-ray set also comes with a digital copy and a DVD. Extras are limited. There’s an ‘interactive’ feature that lets you walk around the island with making of clips for each section. There’s a junior explorer section that makes offers the same footage in a less interactive version (21 min.). There’s a blooper reel (1 min.) and five (6 min.) useless deleted scenes.

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

Believe the Impossible. Discover the Incredible.

Adventure , Action & Science Fiction movie

starring Dwayne Johnson , Josh Hutcherson und Michael Caine

In cinemas since February 10, 2012

View more movie details

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a 2012 American science fantasy action-adventure film [4] directed by Brad Peyton and produced by Beau Flynn , Tripp Vinson and Charlotte Huggins. A sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), the film is based on Jules Verne 's The Mysterious Island (1875). It stars Dwayne Johnson , Michael Caine , Josh Hutcherson , Vanessa Hudgens , Luis Guzmán , and Kristin Davis . The storyline was written by Richard Outten , Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, and the screenplay by Brian and Mark Gunn.

Theatrical release

Critical response, external links.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released in cinemas on February 10, 2012, by Warner Bros. Pictures , New Line Cinema and Walden Media to mixed reviews, but was a box office success with a worldwide gross of $335 million, surpassing its predecessor. [3] It was released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 5, 2012.

Four years after his adventure in the center of the earth , 17-year-old Sean Anderson is arrested by the police for breaking into a satellite control center in hopes of enhancing a coded signal that could have been sent by his long-missing grandfather, Alexander Anderson.

Wanting to bond with Sean, his new stepfather Hank Parsons helps decipher the code, which leads to three books: Treasure Island , Gulliver's Travels , and Jules Verne 's Mysterious Island . Using the books' individual maps, Hank uses a backlight to make them a single island, complete with the coordinates to its location. Hoping to prove to Sean that there is no mysterious island there, Hank convinces Sean's mother, Liz, to let him take Sean to where the coordinates point to.

In Palau , Hank reluctantly hires helicopter tourism guide Gabato and his daughter Kailani (on whom Sean develops an immediate crush) to fly to the coordinates, as they are the only ones willing to take them. The helicopter gets caught in a cyclone and they crash into the Pacific, waking up on the island.

Moving in land, they are shocked to discover miniature elephants (which belong to a prehistoric species, the Dwarf sicilian elephant ) and giant butterflies, meaning the animal sizes are opposite. After coming across an egg clutch, Gabato accidentally wakes up a giant frilled lizard , which chases them throughout the jungle.

They nearly get eaten, but are saved by Alexander. He takes them to a hut he built from the wreckage of the ship that brought him to the island. He has a working radio, but due to the positioning of the satellite, it will be two weeks before they can call out.

The next morning, Alexander leads the group to the lost city of Atlantis , which rises every 70 years and sinks again after a couple of days. Although Alexander assures them the island won't sink for many years, Hank discovers sea water coming from underground, meaning they only have days before the island sinks. Their only means of salvation seems to be the legendary Nautilus , Captain Nemo 's submarine. Kailani enters Nemo's crypt and finds his journal, which shows that Nautilus is in a cave at Poseidon 's Cliffs.

To go there, they mount giant bees and fly over a high ridge. When giant bee-eater birds try to devour them, Sean saves Kailani's life, but dislocates his ankle. Hank and Alexander reset Sean's ankle, then the group has a bonding moment when Hank sings his rendition of " What a Wonderful World " to ease Sean's pain.

The next morning, the water rises greatly and Hank deduces that the island will sink in a matter of hours. Gabato is missing, having gone toward the island's volcano in search of gold. While Alexander and Kailani go after him, Sean and Hank head for Poseidon's Cliffs.

To reach Nautilus ' underwater cave, Sean and Hank create makeshift oxygen tanks and dive down fifty feet, but are nearly killed by a giant electric moray eel . The 140-year-old batteries have run down, so they engineer a way to start the submarine with the eel's electricity.

Kailani and Alexander find Gabato and convince him to escape with them instead of trying to take some volcano gold. As they near Poseidon's Cliffs, the volcano erupts. Sean and Hank arrive in Nautilus just in time to rescue the others from the water. Gabato pilots the submarine out of harm's way while Hank and Sean fire torpedoes into the path of falling debris. As they clear the dangers, Kailani kisses Sean for his bravery.

Six months later, Kailani and Gabato are well off, as he runs the most popular tourist attraction on Palau   – tours aboard the Nautilus . Kailani visits Sean on his birthday. While the family celebrates, Alexander arrives with a book for Sean's birthday present   – Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon , Alexander's suggestion for the next new adventure with the family. Liz protests, but Hank says, "Oh honey, it's only the moon. What could possibly go wrong?" The film ends with the camera panning to the moon.

• Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson
• Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons
• Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson
• Luis Guzmán as Gabato
• Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani
• Kristin Davis as Liz Anderson-Parsons
• Anna Colwell as Jessica
• Stephen Caudill as Cop]
• Branscombe Richmond as Tour Guide
• Walter Bankson as Hockey Player

After the commercial success of the first film, New Line Cinema and Walden Media purchased Richard Outten 's spec script, Mysterious Travels , in March 2009 to serve as the basis for the film. In the story, the characters embark on a journey to a mysterious uncharted island thought to have inspired the writing of three literary classics: Robert Louis Stevenson 's Treasure Island , Jonathan Swift 's Gulliver's Travels , and Jules Verne 's Mysterious Island . Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn were chosen to revise Outten's script. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced that Journey 2: The Mysterious Island would be released on February 10, 2012.

Josh Hutcherson was the only actor to reprise his role. Due to scheduling issues, Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem did not return. Kristin Davis replaced Jane Wheeler as Sean's mother Liz. Dwayne Johnson played Sean's stepfather, who is forced to accompany Sean on the trip to find his missing grandfather Alexander (played by Michael Caine ) on a mythical and monstrous island. [5] Vanessa Hudgens was cast as Hutcherson's love interest, Kailani.

The theatrical release of the film was preceded by a Looney Tunes short film titled Daffy's Rhapsody , featuring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd in the first CG or 3-D depiction of these specific Looney Tunes characters. The short film's director, Matthew O'Callaghan, noted that " Daffy Rhapsody was originally recorded in the early 1950s as part of a kids' album". Unlike the earlier CG Looney Tunes shorts that appeared before Happy Feet Two and Yogi Bear , this short did not appear on the home video release of the film it accompanied.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released in cinemas on February 10, 2012, by Warner Bros. Pictures , Walden Media and New Line Cinema . The film was accompanied by a 3D Looney Tunes short titled Daffy's Rhapsody . The short was originally going to play before Happy Feet Two , but was replaced with I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat to go along with the bird theme.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 5, 2012.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island grossed $103.9 million in North America and $231.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $335.3 million, against a production budget of $79 million [6] surpassing its predecessor . [7] [8] In North America, the film earned a $6.54 million on its debut Friday, ranking fourth at the box office. [9] Over the weekend, it earned $27.3 million, coming in third place, much higher than the original's $21.0 million debut. [10] Outside North America, Journey 2 began its run three weeks before its North American release. [11] It topped the box office outside North America for two consecutive weekends [12] and three in total. [13] It surpassed the original's total outside North America. [14] Its highest-grossing region after North America was China ($58.4 million), [15] followed by Russia and the CIS ($17.6 million) and Mexico ($12.7 million). [16]

On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval percentage of 45% based on 133 reviews and an average rating of 5.00 out of 10. The critics consensus states: "Aggressively unambitious, Journey 2 might thrill tween viewers, but most others will find it too intense for young audiences and too cartoonishly dull for adults." [17] On Metacritic , the film has a score of 41 out of 100 based on 27 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average". [18] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. [19]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade, stating that "the movie flies by pleasantly, and is then instantly forgettable. Perhaps Jules Verne can explain the science of that". [ citation needed ] Randy Cordova from the Arizona Republic said: "Johnson can't save the movie, directed by Brad Peyton, from being a sloppy skip from one seemingly unrelated idea to the next". [ citation needed ] Roger Ebert , who gave the first film two stars, gave the sequel two-and-a-half stars, stating: "It isn't a "good" movie in the usual sense (or most senses), but it is jolly and goodnatured, and Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson are among the most likable of actors". [20]

• Letterbomb - Performed by Green Day
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• Aloha Oe - Performed by Dwayne Johnson
• Hello Again - Performed by Meta & The Cornerstones
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• What a Wonderful World - Performed by Dwayne Johnson

In August 2014, Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes were announced to write the script for a third film. [21] Brad Peyton and Dwayne Johnson were expected to direct and star in the sequel, respectively. [22] It was later stated that there would be two sequels. [23] By January 2018 however, Johnson stated despite the financial success of The Mysterious Island , and although a third film titled Journey 3: from the Earth to the Moon (based on the 1865 novel ) was intended, its development had been cancelled due to a lack of immediate interest and troubles in adequately adapting the novel. [24] Despite this, reports from Hollywood production insiders arose in August 2020, stating that a sequel was once again in development. In December 2021, Hiram Garcia confirmed that Warner Bros. Pictures wants a sequel film, though Seven Bucks Productions decided to delay development in favor of pursuing other projects. [25]

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• ↑ " JOURNEY 2 – (PG)" . British Board of Film Classification . Archived from the original on July 14, 2023 . Retrieved January 6, 2021 .
• 1 2 3 "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on May 20, 2012 . Retrieved May 15, 2012 .
• ↑ "JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND" . Warner Bros . Archived from the original on December 6, 2021 . Retrieved December 27, 2021 .
• ↑ McNary, Dave (September 8, 2010). "Michael Caine set for 'Journey 2' " . Variety . Archived from the original on February 14, 2021 . Retrieved February 6, 2021 .
• ↑ "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) - Box Office Mojo" . Archived from the original on February 1, 2014 . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
• ↑ "Jules Verne Showdown" . Archived from the original on November 17, 2020 . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (April 18, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Journey 2' Wins Weak Weekend" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (February 11, 2012). "Friday Report: 'The Vow,' 'Safe House' Draw Huge Crowds" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on August 15, 2020 . Retrieved March 18, 2012 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (February 12, 2012). "Weekend Report: Moviegoers Say "I Do" to 'The Vow,' Check In to 'Safe House' " . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (January 25, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Sherlock' Outwits Competition for Third-Straight Weekend" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (February 21, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Journey 2' Still Strong Overseas" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (February 21, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Journey 2' Wins Weak Weekend" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Subers, Ray (February 28, 2012). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Ghost Rider 2' Catches Fire Overseas" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Xia, Yun (March 17, 2012). "China Weekly Box Office (03/05 – 03/11): War Horse repeat while A Simple Life shined; Mission Impossible 4 crossed $100m" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on June 8, 2012 . Retrieved March 18, 2012 .
• ↑ "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) - International Box Office Results" . Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on June 28, 2018 . Retrieved April 28, 2020 .
• ↑ "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" . Rotten Tomatoes .
• ↑ "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" . Metacritic .
• ↑ "Home - Cinemascore" . cinemascore.com .
• ↑ Roger Ebert (February 8, 2012). "Jump-starting the Nautilus with an electric eel" . Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on February 11, 2012 . Retrieved February 6, 2021 .
• ↑ " 'Journey' Sequels in the Works With 'Conjuring' Writers (Exclusive)" . The Hollywood Reporter. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ "Brad Peyton Wants A More "Mature" Journey 3" . We Got This Covered . May 21, 2015. Archived from the original on May 25, 2015 . Retrieved June 9, 2015 .
• ↑ "Dwayne Johnson Journey 3 and 4: Writers Hired For Two More Sequels" . Slashfilm . August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022 . Retrieved January 25, 2022 .
• ↑ Stephens, David (January 3, 2018). "Dwayne Johnson Confirms That Journey 3 Isn't Happening" . Screen Rant . Archived from the original on April 29, 2018 . Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
• ↑ Weintraub, Steve (December 31, 2021). "Exclusive: Producer Hiram Garcia on 'Red Notice,' 'Black Adam,' the Next 'Jumanji' Sequel, and Dwayne Johnson's Upcoming Schedule" . Collider . Archived from the original on January 5, 2022 . Retrieved January 5, 2022 .
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• Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Now Shooting; Set Photos Surface at /Film

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Sean Anderson partners with his mom's boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – review

T his new Jules Verne adventure yarn is a sequel to the ingenuous but surprisingly popular 3D version of Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth . The morose Josh Hutcherson, the only survivor from the earlier film, receives a coded message from his long-lost grandfather, the intrepid explorer Alexander (Michael Caine). He bonds with his new stepfather (Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock) when they discover it directs them to maps in Verne's Mysterious Island , Stevenson's Treasure Island and Swift's Gulliver's Travels . These reveal that granddad is stranded on a Pacific island with an active volcano, prehistoric beasts, the ruins of the lost Atlantis, and Verne's submarine Nautilus hidden in a cave. That's about as smart and as literate as the film gets. Otherwise it resembles King Kong written by Enid Blyton for undemanding children, though Blyton would have disapproved of the philistine way Johnson tears the maps out of his stepson's books. The adults – Caine, Johnson, Luis Guzmán – laugh and smile inanely; Hutcherson and Vanessa Hudgens (as a teenage Polynesian beauty) scowl.

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

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Film / Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

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A 2012 sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) , directed by Brad Peyton, starring Dwayne Johnson , and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The story is a very loose adaptation of Verne's The Mysterious Island .

Four years after the previous movie, the now seventeen-year-old Sean ( Josh Hutcherson ) is fixated on finding his long-lost grandfather ( Michael Caine ), and, driven by the first film's revelation that Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth was a factual account, believes he has found the key to discovering him: by overlaying the island maps in Gulliver's Travels , Treasure Island and The Mysterious Island , he creates a map of a new island, complete with coordinates. Heading to the western Pacific to seek out the island, Sean and his stepfather Hank (Johnson) secure a helicopter for their search but are caught in a storm and crash on their destination, a lost land of dwarf elephants, giant butterflies and huge, aggressive lizards — and also, incidentally, the home of the lost city Atlantis. They discover that the island submerges and reemerges on a regular cycle, and, when they realize that it will soon vanish back into the sea, they set out on a frantic search for their only way off — the Nautilus , Captain Nemo's legendary submarine.

This movie contains examples of:

• Artifact Title : A mild case. The title would have made more sense if they had left off the "Journey 2" part, but there is technically a journey (just not to the center of the earth and it's not particularly long as they spend most of the movie trying to get off The Mysterious Island ).
• Atlantis : The lost city is located on the island. They also reference the fact the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea had Atlantis under the ocean.
• Big Damn Kiss : Between Sean and Kailani in the movie's climax.
• Canon Welding : This movie makes at least the settings of Journey To The Center of The Earth , 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea , and The Mysterious Island equally real in-universe, as well as parts of Treasure Island and Gulliver's Travels .
• Alexander brings up the Vernians in the opening narration and is established as the original Vernian in the Anderson family.
• Sean's wall displays articles referencing him and his uncle's expedition from the previous film.
• Alexander references Max's death in the last film.
• Death by Materialism : Narrowly averted with Gabato, who nearly dies trying to dig up a giant lump of gold. He isn’t motivated by greed, however. He just wants to give his daughter a better life and a good education.
• Disappeared Dad : Hank’s father ran out on him when he was a small boy. As a result , Hank is determined to be the best stepfather he can possibly be to Sean.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul" : Henry... er, Hank. Actually, it's not made clear if Henry really is Hank's name, or if Hank isn't really a nickname, but all the same, Hank doesn't like being called Henry.
• Fanservice : Vanessa Hudgens wearing a tank top and short shorts for almost the entire movie. Also, did any male viewers who saw it in 3D regret paying extra in the scene where she crawls out of a collapsing tunnel with the camera on her from behind ? Thought not.
• Hank is a genuinely caring person, and does worry about Sean. But, the way he insults Sean's grandfather, in front of Sean , is just a tad mean-spirited. He gets better though.
• Alexander, for mainly the same reasons. He and Hank pretty much take turns insulting and undermining each other for the first half of the movie before beginning to respect each other.
• Practically the moment Kailani appears, in a tank top, the camera goes straight to her breasts.
• As mentioned above, when Kailani is crawling out of the cave, the camera is focused on her butt.
• Oh, Crap! : When Hank attempts to punch the giant lizard. Hank: I think I just made it worse.
• Ominous Crack : The giant lizard egg that starts cracking under Gabato's weight.
• Psycho Electric Eel : A very big nippy one in the sea cave where the Nautilus is hidden.
• Remember the New Guy? : Alexander Anderson was never mentioned in the previous film, despite this film implying he was the one who get Max into Verne. Handwaved by the film noting that he was never around.

• Shout-Out : The giant iguana is a huge Shout-Out towards monster movies in the 50s when they used iguanas and gators for dinosaurs .
• The Stinger : A mid-credits scene reveals that three small elephants survived the submerging of Atlantis, and they are seen swimming underwater towards that city. Indicating that the flora and fauna of the island have evolved to survive the islands cyclists submerging.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? : Hank really doesn't like lizards and is freaked out by the overgrown one the group runs into on the island. "Why did it have to be lizards? Why couldn't it be snakes? "
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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) – Review

With the commercial success of the Brendan Fraser led adventure comedy Journey to the Center of the Earth the people over at New Line Cinema obviously wanted a sequel but as Jules Verne’s original novel didn’t have a sequel they decided to mine for ideas from other stories, taking elements from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island , Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Jules Verne’s own Mysterious Island – which was actually a sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea – but what they didn’t land for the return journey was star Brendan Fraser.

Taking place four years after the previous adventure we find seventeen-year-old Sean Anderson ( Josh Hutcherson ) living in Dayton, Ohio with his mom ( Kristin Davis ) and his stepdad Hank ( Dwayne Johnson ), he’s not a happy camper and spends all his time obsessing over Jules Verne and trying to decode a radio signal that he suspects was sent by his long-missing grandfather, Alexander Anderson ( Michael Caine ). With help from Hank, they figure out that code by deducing that it uses Jules Verne characters and maps from three different books, Treasure Island, Gulliver’s Travels and Verne’s own Mysterious Island and by combining these three maps into one single large map it reveals the co-ordinates an uncharted island.

It’s at this point they should have called Dora the Explorer for help.

But with the Dora the Explorer unavailable Sean and Hank fly to Palau in the hopes of chartering a boat and proving whether or not this mysterious island actually exists, unfortunately, the area they want to check out is considered by most to be too dangerous to visit and is referred by the locals as a “graveyard of ships” and thus our heroes are forced to resort to hiring a broken down helicopter operated by tourism guide Gabato ( Luis Guzmán ) and his daughter Kailani ( Vanessa Hudgens ). No sooner do they arrive at the coordinates than they find themselves trapped in a cyclone, which batters the helicopter and sends them down into the sea. Lucky for them they all wash ashore on the Mysterious Island and they immediately proceed to search for Sean’s grandfather in the hopes that his radio can call for help.

“Hello, I’m Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine, and I’ll be slumming it with you today ,”

Question: How exactly does one steer a bee?

Stray Observations: • The first movie dealt with Sean’s missing father and in this sequel, we have Sean’s missing grandfather, clearly, the common denominator here is Sean. • A helicopter is not the ideal vehicle to search for an island that may or may not exist as the fuel capacity of said aircraft is rather limited. • The island is hidden by a permanent hurricane, something that would attract every meteorologist in the world to investigate. • Our heroes get cornered by a giant lizard right where Sean’s grandfather had set multiple swinging log devices. That’s not luck that is some bullshit levels of screenwriting laziness. • They come across something called the Dakkar Grotto and Sean states “The resting place of Captain Nemo. Legend has it his crew buried him there.” And what legend is that? In Verne’s book, we are told that the Nautilus sailed the oceans of the world until all its crew except Nemo had died, it was then that Nemo retired to the island, alone, and at the end of the book, the Nautilus was scuttled to serve as Captain Nemo’s tomb. • Gold flakes rain down on our heroes, caused by the nearby erupting volcano, which apparently contains massive gold deposits, and thus Sean states “That must be the treasure that Robert Louis Stevenson was talking about in Treasure Island.” Once again I ask, what the fuck book was he reading? Stevenson was writing about pirate treasure, for Christ’s sake, not gold spewing volcanoes. • I’m fine with taking liberties with the look of Captain Nemo’s submarine but the Nautilus not only looks nothing like Verne version but the writers outfitted it with bloody torpedoes. Seriously, did anyone involve with this project even open a book? For one, the Nautilus rammed enemy ships it did not blow them up.

This looks more like an underwater craft that Jar Jar Binks would pilot.

I’m all four fun rip-roaring adventure films but director Brad Peyton and screenwriters Brian and Mark Gunn clearly had no respect for the source material, with characters at multiple times supposedly quoting information from a book when in actual fact they are just pulling stuff out of their collective assess. Any fan of Jules Verne watching this movie would be endangered of losing their eyesight with the number of times the script will cause you to roll your eyes in disbelief, and even if you set aside the film’s bastardization of the source material you’re still dealing with some fairly unlikable people on this particular adventure. Sean in this movie is a petulant jerk and all the “teenage angst” in the world cannot excuse his behaviour here, then we have Dwayne Johnson, who is one of the most charismatic people in the world, yet he and Michael Caine’s character get into a pissing match the second they meet for no possible reason. Then we have the father/daughter team consisting of Luis Guzmán and Vanessa Hudgens who are stuck in this thing simply to provide some bad comic relief and a possible love interest for Sean.

“Dad, can we go out on our own adventure and leave these asshats behind?”

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

• Movie Rank - 5.5/10 5.5/10

Dwayne Johnson was the perfect choice to fill the shoes of absent Brendan Fraser but the nonsensical mess they called a screenplay constantly undercut much of the fun that the film was trying to instill.

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10 Best Movies Based On Jules Verne Books, Ranked

• Jules Verne's work has inspired numerous movie adaptations and is the foundation for some of the earliest science fiction films.
• Some Jules Verne adaptations are entertaining and enjoyable, while others are outdated and not required viewing.
• The film "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (2008) successfully updates Verne's classic story with modern special effects and remains fun to watch.

Jules Verne is undoubtedly one of the most prominent authors in science fiction , and its no wonder that his works have inspired countless movie adaptations. One of the most translated writers in human history, the French author has written legendary tales like 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in 80 Days . Verne's daring imagination put him far ahead of his time, and it's no surprise that movie studios have sought to replicate his sense of wonder with multiple live-action adaptations of Jules Verne stories .

Jules Verne's work has become the foundation for some of the earliest films in the science fiction genre , some of which even hold up today remarkably well as enjoyable, adventurous romps through the imagination. The mid-to-late 2000s saw a resurgence of Jules Verne films as well, to varying degrees of success, with studios hoping to recapture the joy and nostalgia of the earliest films to adapt Verne's books for a new generation. With so many familiar titles, it's a difficult task to distinguish the very best depictions of Jules Verne's novels over the years.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth

An easily-overlooked made-for-TV movie, the two-part Journey to the Center of the Earth special was a solid attempt at getting to the center of what made Verne's original story so memorable. The film is decidedly slow-moving and low-budgeted, with some creature effects occasionally bordering the precipice of acceptable for a shoestring budget, but the C-List actors can often bring in decent performances amid the campy set-dressing. Despite it's many flaws, the two-part film is an entertaining, knowingly campy jog through Verne's beloved tale of subterranean exploration.

Master Of The World

Master of the World is the sole film to adapt Jules Verne's novel of the same name, and when compared to his other, more well-known stories, it's easy to see why. The narrative of a rich maniac dedicated to the idea of threatening the world's governments into laying down their arms isn't quite as whimsical as Verne's other premises. As for the film, despite rich talent from the likes of a young Charles Bronson and the legendary Vincent Price , the special effects are especially outdated, even for the time period . Master of the World is fun, but not required viewing.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Journey 2: the mysterious island.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the follow-up to 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth. The film takes place four years after the original, showing Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson teaming up with Hank, his stepfather, to find his lost grandfather. Due to scheduling issues, Brendan Fraser wasn't able to return as Trevor Anderson but was replaced by Dwayne Johnson as the film's lead.

Release Date 2012-02-12

Director Brad Peyton

Cast Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens, Dwayne Johnson

This semi-adaptation picks up where 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth left off, replacing Brendan Fraser with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As the passable action adventure delves into the incredible isle, the tone rides a strange line, at once too scary for younger viewers and too subdued for older ones. Amid mediocre CGI and all-too subdued performances, the best thing that can be said about Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was how it pioneered the art of throwing Johnson into a jungle, later done better in films like Jungle Cruise and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle .

Around The World In 80 Days

Though the idea of circumnavigating the globe in the span of 80 days is now a triviality, in Verne's time, such a time was the stuff of science fiction. The 1956 take on the story is an incredibly grand adventure comedy with a runtime that feels nearly as long as the titular journey itself. The international cast is crammed with stars of Hollywood's Golden Age , who had enough charisma between them to earn the film an early Academy Award for Best Picture. Today, the spectacle and aged humor can be best appreciated as a museum of 50s stardom.

Starring a young Josh Hutcherson and Brendan Fraser, still hot off the success of The Mummy trilogy , 2008's Journey To The Center Of The Earth had all the makings of an action-adventure hit. Being the first to truly update one of Verne's classic stories with modern special effects, the film still looks great 15 years later, even if it is marred by several obvious moments clearly meant to be enjoyed in the context of a 3-D theater. Adapting the classic adventure about as well as it could have, Journey To The Center Of The Earth isn't revolutionary, but undeniably fun.

While most adaptations of Verne's work make at least some departures from the source material, 2004's Around The World In 80 Days completely re-imagines the story as a raucous action-comedy. Though critically-panned at the time, the film is endlessly re-watchable today , with eye-popping action choreography courtesy of Jackie Chan's Passepartout and deadpan comedic timing from Steve Coogan's Phineas Fogg. If the anachronisms and deviations from Verne's novel can be forgiven, Around The World In 80 Days is a creative globe-trotting adventure that doesn't get the respect it deserves.

There's simply no replicating the cheesy fun of the original Journey To The Center Of The Earth , an earnest science fiction adventure movie that wears its heart on its sleeve. The special effects are certainly dated, but it's hard not to wring a certain level of charm out of the delicately hand-painted backgrounds and practical lizardman costumes. Beyond the addition of the deliciously dastardly villain, Count Saknussemm, the film is also one of the most faithful to Verne's work, a commendable effort in and of itself.

The Mysterious Island

The Mysterious Island is one of Jules Verne's lesser-known stories, but the 1961 film of the same name takes every advantage of the novel's conceits. Following a group of Union soldiers in the Civil War who escape prison in a hot air balloon only to wash up on a bizarre uncharted island, the film's sense of tension only ever dials up, as the heroes contend with grimy human pirates and giant fauna rendered by the talent of stop-motion legend Ray Harryhausen . Not the deepest narrative, this thrilling tale of danger holds up decades later remarkably well as a harrowing odyssey.

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

One of Disney's earliest forays into live-action storytelling, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea presented the aquatic crew of the Nautilus with untold dangers then-undreamed of by 50s audiences. Beyond the great creature and sci-fi technology designs that still hold up today, the film offers substantially more heart than most other Verne adaptations, taking the time to acclimate the viewer with its intrepid adventurers. It's no wonder that 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was influential enough to earn a spot as a Disneyland mainstay even seven decades after its original release.

A Trip To The Moon

It's only fitting that the world's first science fiction movie sprung from the mind of one of the genre's most influential authors. Presenting early audiences with a dizzying idea of space travel long before the first astronaut was born, A Trip To The Moon 's hypnotic, almost feverish visuals and brisk 14-minute run time assaults the imagination with a yet-unmatched spectacle of dreamlike reality. From the Moon's incredulous face to the dancing insectoid aliens that vanish in a literal puff of smoke, A Trip To The Moon is by far the most influential science fiction film courtesy of Jules Verne.