BEFORE: Continuing with the "Lost World" theme - I was very partial to the 1959 version with James Mason and Pat Boone when I was a kid. But the FX in that film were probably comparable to the 1970's "Land of the Lost" - plus I always wondered how it could be so bright underground, that the film cameras could capture everything.
I'm not risking falling asleep during this film - so I took a pre-movie shower, popped a couple of chocolate-covered espresso beans, and poured a glass of Dew.
THE PLOT: On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.
AFTER: Of course we all know that once you get down below a certain level in the earth, there's nothing but rock, right? There's no underground rivers, or lost worlds, or dinosaur colonies...but you kind of just have to go with the flow here and accept some incredibly impossible things, otherwise we'd just be watching a movie about some dark tunnels. Again, the underground world is very bright and colorful, which is explained with a line or two about "bio-luminescence".
And no one really comes near the "center" of the Earth, which would be a giant ball of liquid magma, or so science tells us. There, now that THAT'S out of the way, the bigger question is, was the film entertaining? For the most part, yes.
This was one of those films that kicked off the current wave of 3-D films, so a lot of the shots are flares being thrown at the camera, or birds flying at the camera, or hurtling rocks, etc. So I should probably take into consideration that I watched this in glorious Non-3D on a (relatively) small screen - but this still came off like a thrill-ride. Some of it is obviously forced, though, like the roller-coaster ride on the mine carts (an homage/rip-off of "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"?)
However, you can't get an internet connection with a PSP when on an airplane at 30,000 feet, and you simply can't get a cell phone call when you're miles beneath the earth's surface - didn't anyone research that? And yeah, I've got a bone to pick with those floating "magnetic" rocks, too...things would float if you were AT the earth's center, but as stated above, the characters were probably nowhere near that point.
Still, I felt entertained - it's just difficult for me to switch off the disbelief software, or maybe I'm just used to being nitpicky. I have found that screenwriters don't mind me pointing out plotholes, provided I do it with enough notice for them to be fixed, or if I provide alternative solutions.
Starring Brendan Fraser (last seen by me in "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor") and Josh Hutcherson (last seen by me last week in "Kicking & Screaming"), with a cameo by Seth Meyers (last seen by me in ummm...the SNL finale?)
RATING: 6 out of 10 dinosaur skulls
There are a few directions I could go from here - "Inkheart" for the Brendan Fraser connection, or the "King Kong" remake for the monster connection, but I'm anxious to link to my comic-book/superhero films. I'll do my best to explain the connection tomorrow...
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