The trailer for the digital 3-D flick Journey To The Center Of The Earth is available. Click it HERE to watch Brendan Fraser spit in your face.
The first thing I thought was, "That was really horrible."
The second thing I thought was, "My ten year old self would have loved this shit!"
The effects look crappy. I mean 80's styled blue screen crappy. Darkman crappy. But it's got all sorts of cool monsters and you can't go wrong with Mr. Verne's premise of discovering a fantastic world right beneath our feet. It looks like it will take full advantage of the 3-D gimmick by throwing everything from books to toothy fish in your face (I hope there's a Friday The 13th styled eyeball pop, too!). And it's also got one of the most underrated assets in Hollywood- Mr. Brendan Fraser.
Fraser broke out with the dopey teen-oriented comedies Encino Man and Airheads. He elevated these flicks from forgettable to good with a natural charisma and some excellent comic timing. Ever since then he's been straddling the line between adult drama and brand name blockbusters for the kids. His role as director James Wale's boy toy in Gods & Monsters is probably his best work to date. But when it comes to the goofy kids stuff, this guy is the most dependable star since Mickey Rooney.
He's carried a lot of movies with that aforementioned charisma and wit-
George of The Jungle- This is the rare live-action adaptation that betters it's source material. It's got plenty of slapstick gags to keep things moving. It repeatedly breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience, often to acknowledge it's own absurdity. And frankly, there's barely a plot to speak of. But Fraser holds it all together by managing to be simultaneously moronic and heroic.
The Mummy- Before Stephen Sommers destroyed Carl Laemelle's entire legacy with Van Helsing, he was a promising director. Kind of a poor man's Robert Zemekis. The Mummy was a summer popcorn flick that managed to bombard audiences with outrageous visual setpieces and still retain a sense of legitimate fun. With Fraser in the lead, it was like Raiders of The Lost Ark starring Jack Burton. Geeks have clamored for a sequel to Big Trouble In Little China for years. I say this is it.
The Mummy Returns- Sorry. Not even Fraser could could carry this fetid sack of CGI donkey shit.
Looney Tunes: Back In Action- Another underrated gem. It's absolutely fucking criminal that Space Jam raked in the receipts, while this funny ode to Chuck Jones barely registered a fart on Box Office Mojo. By the time Fraser filmed this one he should have been a legitimate star. A Bruce Campbell for the kid set!
Even with a solid portfolio of films it's hard for this guy to get the respect he deserves, especially from geeks. His name was thrown around for Superman a few years back and it got less fan support than Putty from Seinfeld. But hey, I'm not gonna cry for the guy. He's also starring in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor this August, a Mummy sequel that promises to be marginally better than The Scorpion King! It's hard to feel bad for an actor headlining two summer adventure flicks (even if both of them are as faithful to their source material as The Lawnmower Man).
But maybe he would like to do more. Maybe he would like to take on complex adult characters. Maybe he would like to explore the murky realm of human behavior in all of it's ugliness and glory. Whatever. That's what the theater stage is for.
Keep making mor kiddy advendchur moovys, plz, K? Thnx!
2 comments:
Really I can't lose with this movie. I get some nice eye candy (hawt brandon freezer) and my son has to watch all movies that kid is in since Zathura and Bridge to Terabithia. It will at least be as entertaining (action-wise) as Night of the Museum.
with seemingly all kids movies nowadays, that = fart jokes. so i guess the screenwriters went through the Verne novel (or the Cliff Notes, or maybe the audio book) looking for moments where the kids can fart, in full stereo sound.
if it DOESN't have that kind of stuff, then itll be a pleasant surprise.
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