Riding a Giant Geyser in a T-Rex Skull Is Always Awesome

When I saw an early chunk of footage from Journey to the Center of the Earth at Wonder-Con, star Brendan Frasier was there to tell us what the movie is about. "They fall into a giant hole, and then they have to get back out. That's it," he said with a grin. His goofy, no-nonsense attitude pervades the whole film, and that's what makes it great fun. There are no deep themes, just deep holes; and there are no psychological complexities or scientific realism, just floating rocks and giant meat-eating plants. Journey is the first film you'll see in theaters that uses James "Titanic" Cameron's new digital 3D system, so a big part of the pleasure here is just watching stuff fly at your face. But can you base an entire movie on amusement park sensations alone? The answer is yes, but only if you deploy Journey's unexpected secret weapon: good writing. More »