Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Al S

  
  A spectacular action-packed adventure for the entire family. It`s a winning and epic joy-ride filled with comedy, action, great special effects and alot of heart. It`s a roller-coaster ride of pure fun and thrills from start to finish and just keeps getting better. It`s way better… More
  A spectacular action-packed adventure for the entire family. It`s a winning and epic joy-ride filled with comedy, action, great special effects and alot of heart. It`s a roller-coaster ride of pure fun and thrills from start to finish and just keeps getting better. It`s way better than the original. A wonderful and exciting movie. A great all-star cast, they are clearly having a fantastic time. Dwayne Johnson is excellent, giving off plenty of charm and humor. Josh Hutchenson is terrific. Michael Caine is brilliant. Luis Guzman is hilarious. Vanessa Hudgens is wonderful. This is one wickedly enjoyable and tremendously entertaining adventure that you cant help but love. I found myself surprised that i enjoyed it this much. Family films dont get more exciting or entertaining than this.

• Mike S

  
  Very enjoyable adventure, based on the famous novel by Jules Verne, which was first published in 1874. This modern take on the story, features a troubled teenager (played by Josh Hutcherson, who reprises his role as Sean Anderson from "Journey to the Center of the Earth"),… More
  Very enjoyable adventure, based on the famous novel by Jules Verne, which was first published in 1874. This modern take on the story, features a troubled teenager (played by Josh Hutcherson, who reprises his role as Sean Anderson from "Journey to the Center of the Earth"), who receives a cryptic radio message from his grandfather, which leads him on a dangerous quest to find a mysterious island, which had previously been thought to be a mere place of legend. Those unititated to Verne's tales may dismiss this as a knock-off on films like "Jurassic Park" and "King Kong", but that would hardly be fair as it's probably the latter that has been inspired by Verne's original work. But yes, it is clichéd and treads on familiar ground. That doesn't mean it can't be fun though, and compared to "Center of the Earth", I found this a notable improvement, with greater pacing, excitement and a more likeable cast. Michael Caine as Sean's grandfather, is excellent as ever, adding his usual charm and and energy to the story. Particularily in his amusing interplay with Sean's stepdad Hank, who is solidly played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Vanessa Hudgens and Luis Guzmán are fairly amiable as well, though they add the least to the overall appeal of the film. What makes it a pleasant ride, besides the nice visual elements and good doses of humor, is the island itself and all its strange and wonderful creatures. What's big in our world is small in theirs, and vice versa. A lush, colorful and paradise-like place, that hosts everything from gigantic bumblebees to miniature-sized elephants. A little uneven in the quality of the CGI, but neat nevertheless. All in all, a worthy adaptation of Verne's original adventure. A movie for those who enjoy lighthearted, family-friendly escapist fare, but isn't too choosy about the writing or credibility of the plot. Goes well together with some popcorn and an open-minded attitude. Just watch it as your inner child would and you'll be amazed at how fast its 90 minutes fly by!

• Sophie B

  
  Similar to National Treasure but not as well done. I really liked the adventure and mystery aspect of it, as in the figuring out what everything meant and how to get back however I wasn't really interested. Caine was the best part of this but even he couldn't save the… More
  Similar to National Treasure but not as well done. I really liked the adventure and mystery aspect of it, as in the figuring out what everything meant and how to get back however I wasn't really interested. Caine was the best part of this but even he couldn't save the appalling performance of The Rock. I haven't seen the first film but I'm not sure that would help too much. Great visuals though!

• Directors C

  
  Well considering I was going to watch it with low expectations and didn't really go to see it for myself, I went into the cinema with an open mind. But I was still let down. It reminded me of a B movie (the bad kind) but with a mega budget. Even Michael Caine wasn't that… More
  Well considering I was going to watch it with low expectations and didn't really go to see it for myself, I went into the cinema with an open mind. But I was still let down. It reminded me of a B movie (the bad kind) but with a mega budget. Even Michael Caine wasn't that great. It doesn't live up to it's title and the characters aren't in the slightest, likable. It was not without it's charm and the very young hearted will love it, guaranteed. Amazing CGI but to be honest, I could have written a better script.

• Jason C

  
  Let me start off by saying, "Journey 2" is not something I would normally subject myself to. It is difficult to find a movie appropriate for little kids, in a town that is only showing 3 movies. If it had been a week later, we could have seen "The Lorax", instead… More
  Let me start off by saying, "Journey 2" is not something I would normally subject myself to. It is difficult to find a movie appropriate for little kids, in a town that is only showing 3 movies. If it had been a week later, we could have seen "The Lorax", instead we were forced to endure the brutally uninspired, "Journey 2". I went into the film with very low expectations, and I still left the theater offended. That's saying something. The story is entirely forgettable and the action sequences are so lame, that they could be compared to shitty movies from 20 years ago like, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". The dialogue is ridiculously contrived and might as well been delivered by cardboard cutouts, since there wasn't any acting going on. This was me trying something different, and inevitably hating it. The most memorable thing I'll take from this movie, is that apparently, it is acceptable to bring your pets to movie theaters in North Dakota. Hmm. What the hell was Journey 1? Oh, who gives a shit.

• KJ P

  
  This is one of the most unnecessary sequels I have seen in a long time, but oddly enough, it's a very fun film. The first film follows Sean (Josh Hutcherson) as he and his uncle discover the centre of the earth. In this sequel, he discovers that his grandfather has sent him… More
  This is one of the most unnecessary sequels I have seen in a long time, but oddly enough, it's a very fun film. The first film follows Sean (Josh Hutcherson) as he and his uncle discover the centre of the earth. In this sequel, he discovers that his grandfather has sent him secret coding from "The Mysterious Island" that he has discovered many years ago. He and his new step-father, along with a couple others, enter the mysterious island, from then on, it's ridiculous, stupid, and sloppy, but the characters are funny, and the journey is very very fun. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is another one of the those sequels that you will not remember once the year ends, but for a dead season of movies, it was a very fun ride to take in 3D. Sure Vanessa Hudgens is a horrible actress, the CGI is gross, and the dialogue is poorly written, but what do you honestly expect from a family adventure film these days. This is pure B-level entertainment and nothing more. It was a fun time!

• Sanjaya &

  
  The first movie offered a lot of fun while I'm watching it so when I know there's a sequel for 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', I expecting that the sequel will at least offers the same fun as the first movie offered while I'm watching it.. But after 90… More
  The first movie offered a lot of fun while I'm watching it so when I know there's a sequel for 'Journey to the Center of the Earth', I expecting that the sequel will at least offers the same fun as the first movie offered while I'm watching it.. But after 90 minutes watching this movie, I must say that this one is a pretty disappointing sequel.. I'm not saying that the effects were sucks, IMO it's great but not that awesome.. And also as I watch this movie in 3D, I gave a little extra credit for making pretty awesome 3D movie (for your record I didn't watch the first movie in 3D but it amazed me).. Perhaps they should allocating the budget for the special effects to hire a better scriptwriter because the story in this movie kinda suck.. If they can hire a better scriptwriter, with the help of the effects, I'm pretty sure that this movie would be pretty awesome.. And for the cast, since only Josh Hutcherson whom is back from the first movie, I can only say the cast name did impress me but the cast performances did not impress me.. And as for Dwayne Johson, c'mon with that big build body you can get a lot of better role rather than a family comedy movie like this one and please please please stop exposed your "breast dance" cause it's been played in a lot of a movie of yours even though somehow I still caught a little laugh while watching it.. Some scenes probably stole my laugh, but the whole movie did not entertain me as well as the first movie..

• Phil H

  
  Slightly silly title but if your unaware this is the sequel to the 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' remake starring Brendan Fraser. Pretty much the same thing accept swap Fraser with Dwayne Johnson playing Hutcherson's stepfather for this adventure. Lots of the… More
  Slightly silly title but if your unaware this is the sequel to the 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' remake starring Brendan Fraser. Pretty much the same thing accept swap Fraser with Dwayne Johnson playing Hutcherson's stepfather for this adventure. Lots of the expected really, you can't really fail to know what your gonna see here, big bugs, volcanoes, sea beasties, lost gold, deep thick jungles and Michael Caine playing your typical bearded oldboy intrepid adventurer...think along the lines of Connery in 'The Last Crusade'. Despite that it is good fun if you enjoy light hearted fantasy much like the original 'Centre of the Earth' film. It is of course totally daft how Johnson and Hutcherson know how to pilot Captain Nemo's Nautilus, hijack large bumblebees and ride them like 'speeder bikes' and Johnson throwing a spear underwater but hey!...you overlook these things. Enjoyable stuff and hopefully a third on the way, maybe a little less focus on Johnson though this time, he's admittedly a funny guy but boy does he love being the centre of attention.

• Aaron N

  
  Alexander: I'm going to show you something that will take your breath away. It is nice to set up goals for yourself. For example, I happened to have three goals for the New Year: see Michael Cain ride on a giant bumblebee, watch The Rock bounce berries off his chest, and find… More
  Alexander: I'm going to show you something that will take your breath away. It is nice to set up goals for yourself. For example, I happened to have three goals for the New Year: see Michael Cain ride on a giant bumblebee, watch The Rock bounce berries off his chest, and find out if a giant electric eel can power a submarine (all of that is true, yes). With Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, I managed to achieve all of those goals at once and there was still plenty of time to see baby elephants, volcanoes full of gold, and the lost city of Atlantis (all in eye-popping 3D, no less). Look, this is not a movie that is meant to be taken very seriously and for 90 minutes (following a pretty great, new Looney Tunes short) I did manage to get a decent amount of entertainment out of this film. Dwayne Johnson just has too much damn charm and is considerably less sweaty than he was in Fast Five. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com

• Bradley W

  
  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island seems like its trying to be pure fun, but the script makes it seem too juvenile for adults, and maybe even boring for some kids. It has all good intentions, all its just trying to be an adventure film that will make some money, but it's crushed… More
  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island seems like its trying to be pure fun, but the script makes it seem too juvenile for adults, and maybe even boring for some kids. It has all good intentions, all its just trying to be an adventure film that will make some money, but it's crushed by a dull script and special effects that make it too much like a animated TV show. One thing I enjoy about this sequel was that the characters interacted more, while in the first film all they did was start to like each other because they survived a monster attack or something. I must admit, I went into this film having very low expectations because any film with the Rock and Vanessa Hudgens couldn't be anything of true genius, so that might've affected my feelings but I must admit I was expecting something much worse. You get what you paid for, a kids film with cartoonish adveture scenes and special effects that will bore the older audience. The story follows Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson, reprising his role from the first film) who receives a coded distress signal from a mysterious island where no island should exist. It's a place of strange life forms, mountains of gold, deadly volcanoes, and more than one astonishing secret. Unable to stop him from going, Sean's new stepfather, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), joins the quest. Together with a helicopter pilot (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful, strong-willed daughter (Vanessa Hudgens), they set out to find the island, rescue its lone inhabitant and escape before seismic shockwaves force the island under the sea and bury its treasures forever. The plot seemed like a huge remake of Land of the Lost, and I did not enjoy that. I like seeing a movie and feeling like I have never seen it before, unless its suppose to be a remake, and trust me this film is a remake with a different name and new characters. I was also not a big fan of the characters either, they seemed really childish and everyone just did nothing to make them memorable at all. I will admit however, I enjoyed the relationship between the characters played by Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson, because it gave them the only sense of humanity I felt they had left. Other than that, this film consists of monster chases, volcanic eruptions, and anything that will get the producers a lot of money. I was bored during the film, and if they hadn't followed the same adventure film cliches and given the characters more interesting characteristics, I might've enjoyed it more. The cast was just pathetic, and when I say that I mean why is Dwayne Johnson still doing kids movies like this? I thought we established his career was going good after Fast Five, and now he is playing his usual daddy performance that I did not find thrilling. Josh Hutcherson played some little smartass teenager who loves science and this hot girl, a combination that made him a bit annoying. But he has The Hunger Games to fall back on so who cares. Vanessa Hudgens just needs to stop, she is only in this as a love interest, and this just makes me angry. Luis Guzman was the worst actor of the film, not only was he annoying and dull, his character was just here for comic relief and they didn't even do it well. Michael Caine really didn't have much to go on, so I couldn't really say he was bad, just nothing special. Overall the cast was the thing that made me not want to see the film in the first place, and my premonition came true, their acting stunk. Journey 2: the Mysterious Island had some good things about it, such as the monster chases will be enjoyable to a lot of people, and the sub plot with the step father and son really touched me. But sadly whenever monsters aren't chasing them, the special effects were looking so cartoonish that it pulled me away and made me feel like I was watching some cheap show on Nickelodeon. I think the biggest problem of the film however, was that it has that same cliche adventure film formula that makes me so mad because the film makers know they are doing it, and just don't care. If they ever make a second sequel to the series, I sure hope they can fix what I saw in this film, because this movie wasn't even worth showing your children.

• Shawn M

  
  was expecting a bit more, was decent, but nothing that special. Did I mention, I'm getting really sick of every movie based entirely upon 3D? yes.

• Jin M

  
  Set in a land abounding with Lilliputian elephants, Brobdingnagian lizards, blindingly coruscating sea serpents and gold-spewing volcanoes, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" exhibits a visual gasconade of rather derivative, technologically spawned fauna and suscitates rare… More
  Set in a land abounding with Lilliputian elephants, Brobdingnagian lizards, blindingly coruscating sea serpents and gold-spewing volcanoes, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" exhibits a visual gasconade of rather derivative, technologically spawned fauna and suscitates rare instances of engaging conflicts with the film`s characters, which ultimately renders the arcane and supposedly perilous exploration an innocuous sightseeing experience. In comparison to its previous installment, "Journey to the Center of the Earth", the second one benefits from Dwayne Johnson`s rather risible facetiousness but suffers from an ephemerality of suspenseful chases and from a dearth of clever, screen-protruding scenes made possible by the film`s 3D component. The storyline itself fails to incorporate any new thrills given its harmlessly hackneyed three-step approach of finding the enigmatical territory, exploring its content and escaping from it unscathed. Overall, "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" is a harmless touristic stroll across an intricately designed environment of bizarreness.

• Sol C

  
  This film took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting much from watching the trailer, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the movie. These Journey films are really well made for 3D and worth seeing in 3D. Both films feel like an amusement park ride and try to get the… More
  This film took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting much from watching the trailer, but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched the movie. These Journey films are really well made for 3D and worth seeing in 3D. Both films feel like an amusement park ride and try to get the audience involved. Brendan Fraser made a mistake not returning for the sequel. Dwayne does a great job stepping in to headline the new installment in this franchise. I thought he was better here than to Race to Witch Mountain or the Tooth Fairy. Josh Hutcherson is the only cast member from the original who returned for the sequel. Josh does a good job here. He has a great on screen chemistry with Vanessa Hudgens. Luis Guzman is hilarious in the film. Michael Caine steals almost every scene that he is in. I think for the 3rd film, they should team Dwayne with Brendan on a new adventure. I definitely recommend this film.

• Juan C

  
  The first film was decently fun and quite entertaining for the least part. This sequel is at the same level as the first, but a bit better. It's silly and fun and quite entertaining at the same time. The acting isn't half bad and the story plot is quite impressive for the… More
  The first film was decently fun and quite entertaining for the least part. This sequel is at the same level as the first, but a bit better. It's silly and fun and quite entertaining at the same time. The acting isn't half bad and the story plot is quite impressive for the most part. It's fun to watch, but not to be taken seriously. But my problem is the 3-D. My reaction to it is quite mixed. On one side, it's is fun to see it happening and is laughably cliched. On the other side, it's way too forced it, and the cliches can be really frustrating, annoying and flat out pointless. But it's not that bad of a film and is really fun watching, honestly go check it out. B

• Jason C

  
  Dwayne Johnson can deliver a line. I don't know why he can't get better parts. Journey 2 is almost OK, but it can't manage to make itself interesting. There isn't any suspense. The characters are standard. Instead of witty dialogue, through a good part of the… More
  Dwayne Johnson can deliver a line. I don't know why he can't get better parts. Journey 2 is almost OK, but it can't manage to make itself interesting. There isn't any suspense. The characters are standard. Instead of witty dialogue, through a good part of the movie, Johnson and Caine's characters don't seem to like each other. Their back and forth isn't fun or light. Luis Guzman is OK, and Johnson almost makes his character work with his charisma, but ultimately fails. I wouldn't recommend Journey 2 to anybody. It's too messy, which seems to be what director Brad Peyton is sttarting to establish himself as.

• Andrew P

  
  From the embers of the highly mediocre journey to the centrer of the earth rises this sequel that nobody expected nor wanted. However, it's not all as terrible as you may have written it off to be. It has a strong start, a bit of conspiracy mixed with family humour sets you up… More
  From the embers of the highly mediocre journey to the centrer of the earth rises this sequel that nobody expected nor wanted. However, it's not all as terrible as you may have written it off to be. It has a strong start, a bit of conspiracy mixed with family humour sets you up quickly for this adventure. And that's exactly what it is, an adventure. The more cynical side of me can call it contrived and unoriginal, but no! It's a decent family adventure which all around succeeds in what it set off to achieve. Dwayne Johnson has a great presence as an action star and hits the comedy nail on the head, he is hard to fault in a movie like this. If you have already made your mind up that this film will be rubbish then perhaps it's not for you, but if you have kids, you could do worse this year.

Read all 16 featured audience ratings