'Journey to the Center of the Earth'

BY RAFER GUZMÁN | rafer.guzman@newsday.com

July 11, 2008

(3 STARS) (PG)

PLOT A trio of adventurers takes a journey to - well, you know.

CAST Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem

LENGTH 1:33

PLAYING AT Area theaters

BOTTOM LINE See this one in 3-D and keep the lid on your Pepsi: You'll be doing some jumping.

Wait a minute. If you really did reach Earth's center, wouldn't everything be floating in midair, since there's no gravitational pull?

But don't ask questions - you'll ruin the fun of "Journey to the Center of the Earth," and there's lots to be had. A high-spirited adventure film for younger kids, "Journey" is so busy dodging carnivorous plants and flying piranhas that it doesn't bother creating a villain - that would interfere with playtime. Accordingly, there's no real plot and little emotional substance, but special-effects veteran Eric Brevig, making his directorial debut, compensates with imaginative visuals and plenty of cliffhangers.

"Journey" is in 3-D (unlike the characters), which adds some impressive snazz to all the flying objects and creepy-crawlies. The film also overcomes the hokiness of its source material - Jules Verne's 1864 sci-fi classic - by making the book part of the story. Brendan Fraser plays Trevor Anderson, a volcanologist whose studies are yielding few results. But he's driven by the memory of his brother, Max, a fellow volcano nut who disappeared in Iceland years ago. When Max's sullen son, Sean (Josh Hutcherson, the appealing everykid from last year's "Bridge to Terabithia"), comes to visit, he unearths Dad's tattered copy of "Journey."

Judging by the feverish notes in the margins, Max believes the book was nonfiction. Next thing you know, uncle and nephew are off to Iceland, where they hire a local mountain guide - just like in the book! Of course, this one is a looker named Hannah (Anita Briem) and she helps turn the trio into a temporary family.

Our heroes spend most of the film riding various roller coasters: coal-car tracks in a mineshaft, a luge made from a dinosaur skull and - the pièce de résistance - slabs of magnetic rock suspended over a yawning chasm. "Journey" may be an utterly weightless movie, but in the end it floats rather nicely.