Movie - Journey to the Center of the Earth

The center of the Earth was....shiny

First of all, I did not enjoy Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was cliche, corny and the romance sub-plot was downright cringe-worthy. It is basically a re-telling of Jules Verne's adventure epic with a modern twist and fancy CGI, but lacking any originality and imagination. According to the plot, Verne's literature turns out to be every bit the truth, which was the perfect excuse to lift the settings straight off the book and apply it in the film without having to come out with anything new.

I was never eager to watch it, having viewed the trailer which did very little to hide the fact that it is just another Brendan Fraser action-adventure comedy drama (what a mouthful). The only reason I watched it at the cinema anyway was because it was the cheapest 3D movie in town.

This being my first 3D movie experience, I was hoping that the visuals would help me ignore the awful storyline. Unfortunately, the 3D glasses provided by the cinema was not ergonomic to say the least. What made it worse was that I was wearing glasses, so the 3D glasses was actually hanging precariously on the tip of my nose all the time. I ended up using my finger to hold the 3D glasses up throughout the whole movie just so it won't slip off.

Wearing the 3D glasses also darken the visuals somewhat. Considering the story spent a significant amount of time in relative darkness, I found it at times difficult to discern anyting on screen at times. The problem was compounded whenever there were fast moving scenes which made it even more difficult to follow.

I was expecting a fresh cinema experience with literally popping visuals, which is what 3D cinema is all about. What I got in the end was an strained finger and a mild urge to throw up.