Movie review by Russell Pinkston

Journey 2 wastes no time getting to the “action”. Sean Anderson (Josh Hutcherson) is being pursued by police after he broke into a satellite facility to gain access to a message sent by his grandfather (Michael Caine). He is caught but release into the custody of his step-father Hank (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). They don’t get along at first but then they team up to solve the cryptic message. They head out on a step-father/son bonding trip to Palau where they meet a tour guide, Gabato (Luis Guzman) and his beautiful daughter Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) and they travel via helicopter to where they believe The Mysterious Island to be. A freak storm crashes their helicopter and magically transport them to the island where danger and adventure awaits them.  The film is loosely based on the novel by Jules Verne.  It tries to also include elements from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Islan and Johnathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels.
Josh Hutcherson is the sole holdover from 2008’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. Brendan Fraser is replaced in this movie by Dwayne Johnson. Last year The Rock brought new life to the Fast and the Furious franchise when he was added to the Fast Five cast. His addition help that film make over $600 million dollars and a place in my Top 10 Films I Seen in 2011. I like almost everything he has been in but he brought nothing to this film. I don’t fault him….the writing was just really bad. I still look forward to what The Rock can bring to GI Joe: Retaliation…the sequel to a movie I didn’t really like.
Josh Hutcherson is ok….I like him in many of his earlier movies (Zathura, Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant) and I really look forward to him playing Peeta Mellark in next month’s The Hunger Games! But he just wasn’t a very interesting character. In fact most of the character’s were shallow and uninteresting (Kristin Davis).
Vanessa Hudgens provided the eye candy….and believe me, seeing her breasts and ass in 3D was definitely a highlight of the movie , she just doesn’t do much else.
Michael Caine plays Sean’s grandfather and tries to be the worldly adventure traveler but basically comes across as an escape nursing home patient. I felt bad for him that his career had come down to movies like this. I grew up watching his movies (Dressed to Kill, The Island, Victory, Deathtrap and Blame it on Rio) and I loved him in The Cider House Rules (although I still feel Haley Joel Osment should have won that Best Supporting Actor Oscar) Mr. Destiny and Harry Brown but recently including last year’s disappointing Cars 2, his roles haven’t been that good.
The sole highlight and comic relief was from Luis Guzman. If it wasn’t for him I would have hated this movie alot. He stole every scene he was in (that Vanessa’s T&A wasn’t in).
Overall I say say Skip This Movie. It’s nothing special and definitely not worth your $’s seeing it in 3D at the theaters.