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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, USA, 2012. Directed by B. Peyton, written by B. & M. Gunn, R. Outten (from the novel by J. Verne). With Dwayne Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Michael Caine, Luis Guzmàn, Vanessa Hudgens. Original music by Andrew Lockington. Length: 94′. Rated: PG.

Living with his mother and his stepfather, Sean continues his research about his grandad, about whom nobody has news from years, ending in being chased by the police for having broke into a satellite centre. But the message he got there was indeed his grandfather’s: Sean tries to convince Hank, his stepfather, to let him go to Palau, the nearest known land to where the signal came from, but in the end they both fly to Palau. There they find a man with an helicopter, Gabato, who wants to take them to the coordinates even though it seems to be the most dangerous point of the entire ocean, just to get the money to send his daughter, Kailani, to college in the United States. But the helicopter gets into a great hurricane and the four people land on the Mysterious Island, where they find Sean’s grandfather, Alexander. Now the main problem is how to get away from the island, which is about to be submerged by the ocean…

After the success of the first movie, with Josh Hutcherson as the only ‘survived’, the “Journey” franchise tries an even more complicated experiment, in continuing on one hand the Vernian path (“The Mysterious Island”), while, on the other, inserting some elements (and quotes) from Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” and Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”. Three of the most famous adventure books in all of the english literature. The experiment, as for the success of the movie, seemed to be successful indeed, but with a great amount of clichés and some wrong turns it can be defined as worse than its predecessor.

The director of this second movie, Brad Peyton, is another very young one, even though his work seems quite convincing. He uses a lot of frames that look much like the first “Journey” and tries to follow the line drawn by its director, so that the movies end up as two of the most similar ones in a franchise. As for the screenplay, as I said, something, very much like the other movie, seem not so neat. From the story writer Richard Outten to the final work’s team by Brian and Mark Gunn nobody has not even the slightest experience in movie writing, with only some TV movies or cartoons. That is clear in the central part of the movie, where the bee-getaway is (far too) long and it steals time to the entire trip form one side to the other of the island, which goes extremely fast compared with the rest of the story. I must say, though, that the final part, even if a bit too long, is appreciable and almost exciting.

As I said, the only confirmed actor in the cast was Sean/Josh Hutcherson, who confirms the good work of the previous film and seems very confident in lead the story to the end, as if he was a real old-timer. The actual old.timer of the movie, Michael Caine (Alexander), appears instead as completely out of place; his much more serious roles in his career have totally obstructed the possibility, for him, to work in such movies. Wasted is the only adjective I can find to describe his performance. Far more at ease is Dwayne Johnson, whose Hank has all the characteristics of the physically strong ex navy officer. His acting has, as usual, nothing impressive, but seems fit in the story. Nothing more than funny could describe Luis Guzmàn’s performance, and he really is his character, moving and acting naturally in Gabato’s shoes. What was missing in the first movie: a little comedy. Finally, Vanessa Hudgens. Well-known for her role in the “High School Musical” franchise, she is evidently more mature (acting and physically speaking), so that her acting, though not made for A quality roles, is convincing and, not less important, she can play the pretty-girl-to-be-saved making Sean (and maybe also Josh) go mad.

The music, held in trust again to Andrew Lockington, does nothing more than the previous one: support the action and the thrill without overstate. Nothing more to say.

The general outcome of this second “Journey” can be almost positive, even if the first one has, to me, something more than this. But in this world the audiences have the last word, and the success that it had can only make us wait for the third chapter, wisely suggested just before the end credits.

DOWNLOAD REVIEW IN PDF: Journey 2 the Mysterious Island, 2012

LEGGI LA RECENSIONE IN ITALIANO: Viaggio nell’Isola Misteriosa – Recensione