I unabashedly loved Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D, a cheesy, silly adventure story that made everything possible pop out of the screen at you. And now there's going to be a sequel, proving that at least a few other sentient adults thought it was great too. The second film, given the cumbersome title Mysterious Travels: The Lost Map of Treasure Island, will follow scientist Trevor Anderson and his nephew on another adventure, this one to the mysterious island featured in not one but three classic novels-- Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels and Jules Verne's Mysterious Island.
It sounds like a nasty case of an overstuffed sequel, which worries me; the first Journey was so much fun because of its simplicity, and lack of desire to mess with the classic adventure formula. Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson, who starred in the first film, may agree with me; Variety reports that neither of them have signed on for the film. Eric Brevig, the director of the first film, is helping work on the screenplay, but hasn't signed on to direct either.
It's not like there was some inherent artistic integrity to Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D that a sequel needs to upheld, but the talent behind the movie was probably the key to making it as unexpectedly enjoyable as it was. Brendan Fraser is peerless at making a really silly adventure seem fun-- hello, Mummy movies!-- and it's hard to imagine anyone else taking over the role.
For now I'll engage in some cautious optimism about this one, and jump up and down with joy if Fraser and Hutcherson sign on. In a world full of bloated superhero epics and brooding heroes, we all need a fun, forgettable adventure sometimes.
