Family sci-fi double feature: Take the kids on a 3-D ‘Journey,’ but stay unacquainted with ‘Dave’

Journey to the Center of the Earth
Review by Nathan Weinbender

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” is being presented in 3-D, which is the only reason I can think of to rush out and see it in the theater. It’s a crummy B-movie dressed up in a $50 million outfit, and it has clearly been made with the optimism that its perilous action set-pieces will go on to inspire theme park rides and video games.

It is also cheerful, harmless summer entertainment, and if you have kids that are too young for the horrors of Hellboy, take them to see this and they’ll likely have a new favorite movie.

The film suggests that the Jules Verne sci-fi classic was, in fact, non-fiction, and that a group of scientists called Vernians have devoted their careers to proving the outlandish theories in his writing true. Brendan Fraser plays a geologist, who, while looking after his teenage nephew (Josh Hutcherson), discovers that his long-missing brother had actually discovered an entryway into the center of the Earth, which is where he may still be.

Of course, they learn that Verne’s world-within-a-world really exists, they have exciting adventures (riding on runaway mine carts, falling down long, long volcanic tubes, hopping across magnetic floating rocks) and encounter PG-rated creatures (nasty man-eating fish and one perturbed tyrannosaurus rex), and lots of stuff is flung at the screen and at us in the audience.

The special effects are as good as they have to be, and the 3-D, although not completely overwhelming, is better than it usually is in non-IMAX features (you won’t have to wear those uncomfortable cardboard glasses with the red and blue lenses, either). Brendan Fraser, playing a variation on his character from “The Mummy,” is good, too; he’s like a human cartoon, walking a fine line between hopeless incompetent and brazen action hero.

For adults, “Journey to the Center of the Earth” will play as silly, disposable matinee fare, but it will probably enchant young children, especially if it’s their first 3-D experience. It’s fast-paced, noisy, easy to understand and thrilling without being too scary, and I know that if I were still eight years old this review would have been much more enthusiastic.

Grade: C+

Directed by Eric Brevig. Written by Michael Weiss, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin. Inspired by the novel by Jules Verne. Starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem. PG; 92m.

Meet Dave
Review by Nathan Weinbender

Eddie Murphy, if you’ll recall, was the edgiest, smartest, most no-holds-barred stand-up comedian of his generation. He could appear alone on a stage, demand your attention, rip through his material with terrific, foul-mouthed zeal and make you laugh and laugh and laugh.

And now, nearly thirty years after his breakthrough on “Saturday Night Live,” Murphy has made a complete transformation. Not only has he lost his edge, but his personality and intelligence seem to have evaporated as well, and he’s been sleepwalking his way through dismal, lame-brained comedies (including “Showtime,” “Pluto Nash” and “Daddy Day Care,” to name a few) for the past ten years now.

His newest film, coming on the heels of the woeful “Norbit,” is called “Meet Dave,” and it’s lazy, predictable, cheap-looking and barely funny. The movie concerns a group of miniature aliens that travel to Earth in a robotic spaceship in the likeness of its captain, played by Murphy. For reasons I don’t completely comprehend (and don’t really care to), they have been sent to our planet to rid the world of its ocean water.

In the process, the extra-terrestrials develop personalities and senses of humor. For instance, a black crew member hears hip-hop music for the first time and turns into a thug. Another guy sees a production of “A Chorus Line” and immediately becomes a flaming homosexual. This material is not only uninspired, but also kind of distasteful, especially considering the film is being marketed as a family picture.

The basic story, though, follows Dave (that’s the name attributed to Murphy’s character) as he tries to adapt to his foreign surroundings. This movie covers the same material as every fish-out-of-water comedy before it, and scene after scene involves Dave attempting, and failing, to effectively mimic basic human behavior. He also befriends a young boy, whose mother (Elizabeth Banks) is amazingly slow at catching on to Dave’s strange conduct.

Considering Eddie Murphy’s recent, unimpressive track record, “Meet Dave” could have been a whole lot worse. But even so, it’s really, really not funny. He is a gifted comedian, a talented actor and a magnetic screen presence, and it’s disheartening and almost offensive to see him wasted in movies that play like feature-length versions of bad sitcom pilots.

Grade: C-

Directed by Brian Robbins. Written by Rob Greenberg and Bill Corbett. Starring Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Scott Caan and Kevin Hart. PG; 90m.