Luis Guzman is a great actor. He adds a particular flavor to pretty much every movie role, and when used sparingly, he can add a lot to a movie. He's great for minor dramatic roles, and he can provide a few sprinkles of comic genius, too. But, like many comic character actors – use him too much and your whole film will go down the tubes.
The biggest, most annoying problem with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is Luis Guzman, or rather, the complete abuse and grating overuse of Guzman's talent. What could have been a goofy, memorable 15-minute appearance is turned into a 90-minute experience in unfunny. Every joke in the film is somehow poorly anchored to Guzman, and rarely does his moronic character allow a scene to breathe naturally. There's even a few moments where he delivers one-liners and literally pauses, as though some cheeky laugh track is going to back him up. It's embarrassing to watch, and it very nearly ruins the lighthearted fun of Journey 2.
The film, a sequel to the 2008 surprise hit Journey to the Center of the Earth, follows Sean Anderson (Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson) as he continues his search for treasures and mysteries using Jules Verne's novels, in this case, The Mysterious Island. Instead of Brendan Fraser tagging along (he's not even mentioned here), the film switches things up, with Sean now accompanied by his stepfather Hank (Dwayne Johnson, who knocks it out of the park). Along for the ride is a helicopter pilot (Guzman) and his hot love interest daughter (Vanessa Hudgens, who feels completely out of place). Naturally, not unlike the first film, they wind up finding the island only days before it's about to sink into the ocean. Along the way, they also discover Sean's long-lost grandfather, Alexander. He's played by Michael Caine, who's in the film for much longer than expected, and adds an offbeat, sometimes overstated, charm to every scene. The rest of the film is filled with the usual awe and wonder, paired with great monsters, fast chases and exciting action.
On a comparative scale, Journey 2 isn't a bad sequel. It keeps things light and goofy, just like the first film. Never once does the film pretend it isn't some generic assembly-line picture, but that doesn't stop the film's lavish production design for trying to add some visual splendor to the proceedings. The narrative is pretty dumb, offering up plenty of sappy and/or cheesy moments, and characters aren't very well written, nor is the dialogue that inventive or memorable. But the film does manage to squeeze out just enough action and monster mayhem to keep audiences interested, just don't be surprised if you can't remember anything about the film the next day.
While the other flaws are certainly distracting, the only major bad decision was the overuse of Luis Guzman. It's as though the film's producers were worried about Dwayne Johnson's humor falling flat, so they asked Guzman to “ham up” every single scene, and for some inexplicable reason, the editor kept all those scenes in the film. While he might not annoy everyone who sees the film, he's about as frustrating as a character with a broken limb – someone who's drawing the narrative out, while pulling it down at the same time.
For what it is, Journey 2 delivers a fun, if somewhat muddy, ride. It's not really trying all that hard to impress, but it does have some decent fantasy-action sequences, some occasionally great CG (the large iguana is the film's best visual) and a fun adventurous spirit filled with some clever and occasionally original ideas. If you're willing to look past the walls of terrible hovering over the film's strengths, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island should work for you.
The film comes to Blu-ray with three separate releases – a single disc movie-only version, a two disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, and a three-disc 3D Blu-ray/BD/DVD combo pack. All three releases include an UltraViolet cloud streaming digital copy of the film. For this review, we'll be looking at the two-disc combo pack.
Journey 2 features a 1080p/AVC encode, with a soundtrack mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Shot with Sony CineAlta F35 cameras, the film is quite pristine, rich with a bold, bright palette that never falters. Depth and shadows are striking, and textures pop right off the screen – sometimes in a way that makes certain sets look a bit fake or stagey. The encode is quite clean – no compression, dust specks or heavy noise was detected. Even darker scenes yielded very little motion blur or added noise. The only major distraction here are the obvious 3D effects, which don't really work as well in standard 2D. That said, it would seem Journey 2 will make a pretty great 3D Blu-ray presentation.
Audio is not quite as impressive as the transfer. Some high-end crackles were detected on dialogue from Luis Guzman (he's even the worst part of the audio, too). And the film's lush soundtrack, from Andrew Lockington (who also scored the first film), can get a little overbearing at times, especially during quieter character moments. Still, action beats are incredibly immersive, layered with impacting bass and aggressive, balanced surrounds. While your system might detect some flaws in the sound design, this mix delivers a decent punch in all the right places.
Extras are remarkably thin. There's an interactive map feature (a BD-exclusive) which allows you to explore the island a little more. Personally, this would have made for a great Maximum Movie Mode extra with some tweaks, and more in-depth details about the production. There's also a quick, and somewhat annoying, gag reel, and a 6-minute deleted scenes reel. Nothing too impressive there. Oddly, the disc is missing the Looney Tunes short, Daffy’s Rhapsody, which preceded the film in theaters. It's a shame it's not on this release, or any other release for this film.
Journey 2 isn't quite as fun or adventurous as the first film, dampened largely by Luis Guzman's overbearing and unfunny character, but the film should act as a decent babysitter for the 5-10 age group. Rent it if you enjoyed the original. Let's hope the inevitable third chapter in the series improves on the adventurous formula.
R.L. Shaffer knows a good pec dance when he sees one. And now, you can follow his Twitter, Facebook and MyIGN for quotes, rants, reviews, news and the occasional photo of his cat.
Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/25/journey-2-the-mysterious-island-blu-ray-review
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