Island packed with thrills (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Island packed with thrills

9:18am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Film Reviews By Damon Smith

JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND 3D (PG, 94 mins) *** Starring Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzman, Michael Caine, Kristin Davis. Director: Brad Peyton

When the going gets tough, the tough get soppy in this old-fashioned, gung-ho adventure.

The follow-up to the 2008 romp Journey To The Center Of The Earth continues the escapades of plucky teenager Sean Anderson (Hutcherson), who was handed a book about Atlantis at the end of the first film.

Following a brush with the law, Sean hides away in his room where he hopes to break a coded distress signal emanating from the South Pacific.

Navy vet Hank (Johnson) breaks the cipher, which confirms the existence of the mysterious island from Verne’s 1874 book.

Hank accompanies Sean to New Guinea, where they charter a helicopter belonging to wise-cracking pilot Gabato (Guzman) and his sassy daughter Kailani (Hudgens).

The motley crew fly into the eye of a hurricane and are spewed on to sandy shores where Sean’s gung-ho grandfather Alexander (Caine) guides the newcomers through jungles teeming with danger.

The film unfolds at a cracking pace, dispensing with characterisation to concentrate on adrenaline-pumping thrills, including an airborne chase on giant bees and an encounter with a fiercely protective mother lizard.