Die Reise zur geheimnisvollen Insel

This movie is essentially a bunch of bullshit. It’s about as connected to reality as Trump is to democracy. Anyway, I must say that all characters that appear in this movie are incredibly intelligent. It looks as if a group of the most intelligent people in the world had met and decided to go together to a mysterious island, which had been already written about by a bunch of adventure novel writers. On the other hand, I have to say that the same thing that irritated me about this also worked in favor of the film. The story was stupid, but it must be appreciated that the creators decided to shoot something completely different. The characters were all smart alecks but on the other hand, you couldn’t help but fall in love with them. Add in a great setting, perfect effects and great execution, and it turns out that this movie is actually really great. (28.06.2013)

Wir haben gewusst, warum Michael Caine diesen Film gedreht hat – wegen seiner Enkel. Wir haben aber nicht gewusst, ob sich (nicht nur) Caines Enkel die Geschichte, die von Verne inspiriert wurde, überhaupt anschauen möchten. Ich glaube, dass sie es tun werden, weil der Film vor allem für sie bestimmt ist. Erwachsene Zuschauer*innen werden in ihm wahrscheinlich nur solide Tricks und eine entspannte Musik finden. Für Caines größte Fans, zu denen auch ich gehöre, ist der Film eine weitere Gelegenheit, ihren Lieblingsschauspieler in Bewegung zu sehen (diesmal fliegt er z. B. auf einer riesigen digitalen Biene, wer hätte das je gedacht). Die Reise zur geheimnisvollen Insel möchte ich aber nicht verwerfen, weil er für die jungen Zuschauer*innen Unterhaltungspotenzial hat. Außerdem kann er sie dazu bringen, die literarische Vorlage zu lesen (ich wünschte, es wäre wirklich so). Im Endeffekt ist er nicht schlimmer als z. B. Endfields Film aus dem Jahr 1961… Ich bin aber wahrscheinlich zu alt dafür. Zweieinhalb. (27.07.2012)

"Journey to the Center of the Earth" was not a big spectacle, but Brendan Fraser is simply a likable guy, whom I can appreciate. Josh Hutcherson also has some talent, but he is often given annoying characters that definitely don't belong to the ones you will cheer for on the screen. However, Hutcherson is lucky that in the sequel, the creators added Luis Guzmán, who is even more annoying and unpleasant than Hutcherson himself. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is set on an island somewhere in the Pacific, where allegedly three significant literary works were supposed to take place: "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift, and of course, "The Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne. How the characters - besides Hutherson, the film is dominated by Dwayne Johnson, aka wrestler The Rock - end up discovering the connections between these three books is truly deductive work, which would impress even Sherlock Holmes. I don't think I'm stupid, but the ease and speed with which the main characters draw conclusions and become aware of the individual connections truly testifies to an IQ of around 200. I envy that. The creators didn't play much with logic here; they simply wanted to create an adventure story that would impress viewers with its 3D effects. Personally, I don't know, I left the film disappointed and it didn't make me sigh in amazement at all. Neither the effects nor the story. It seems like a family triviality to me, which offers the viewer nothing more than just one afternoon spent in the cinema with kids. More at: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/07/happy-feet-2-bobr-cislo-4-musketyri.html (23.02.2013)