Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a 2012 American science fantasy action-adventure film serving as a standalone sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008), and based on Jules Verne's novel The Mysterious Island (1875); like its predecessor, Verne's novel exists within the film's universe. Directed by Brad Peyton from a script by Brian and Mark Gunn, it stars Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzmán, and Kristin Davis, with Hutcherson reprising his role from the first film. The story follows Sean Anderson who, after receiving a distress call from his long-lost grandfather, mounts a rescue to a mysterious island with help from his militaristic stepfather and the crew of a helicopter tour.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released in theaters on February 10, 2012, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews, but was a box office success with a worldwide gross of $335 million, surpassing its predecessor.

Plot

Four years after his adventure in the center of the Earth, 17-year-old Sean Anderson is caught by police following a high-speed dirt bike pursuit that ends in a neighbor's swimming pool. His stepfather, Hank Parsons, intervenes to keep him out of juvenile detention.

Sean had broken into a satellite facility to boost a coded signal he believes was sent by his long-missing grandfather, Alexander. Hank helps him decode the message, which leads them to three classic novels—Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels, and The Mysterious Island—and a set of coordinates pointing to a location in the South Pacific.

Traveling to Palau, they hire helicopter pilot Gabato Laguatan and his daughter Kailani to fly to the coordinates. A cyclone storm crashes them onto the mysterious island, where they encounter miniature elephants, giant butterflies, and other unusual fauna.

They are soon rescued by Alexander, who has been living on the island for years. He reveals they are on the legendary Mysterious Island, which rises and sinks every 70 years. While Alexander believes they have time, Hank finds signs that the island will sink in a matter of days.

To escape, they seek the submarine Nautilus, hidden in an underwater cave at Poseidon's Cliffs. With Kailani's help, they locate Captain Nemo's journal and identify the sub's location. The group travels on giant bees to reach the site but are attacked by bee-eating birds. Sean is injured saving Kailani, and the group briefly rests.

Gabato, enticed by the island's gold, goes missing. While Alexander and Kailani retrieve him from the erupting volcano, Sean and Hank dive to the cave, evading a giant electric eel, and restart Nautilus using the eel's bioelectric charge.

They rescue the others just as the island sinks. Gabato pilots the submarine to safety, while Hank and Sean defend it from volcanic debris. Months later, Gabato operates a successful tourist business aboard Nautilus, and Kailani visits Sean on his birthday. Alexander arrives with From the Earth to the Moon, suggesting it as their next adventure.

Cast

Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, a former Navy officer who is Sean Anderson's stepfather.

Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson, a 17-year-old adventurer and the nephew of Trevor Anderson

Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson, Sean's long-lost paternal grandfather.

Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani Laguatan, Gabato's daughter and Sean's love interest

Luis Guzmán as Gabato Laguatan, the proprietor of a helicopter tour of low quality in Palau

Kristin Davis as Liz Anderson-Parsons, Sean's widowed mother and Hank's wife. Jane Wheeler portrayed her in the previous film.

Anna Colwell as Jessica

Stephen Caudill as Jim, a police officer and Hank's friend, who informs him about Sean's break-in

Branscombe Richmond as Tour Guide

Walter Bankson as Hockey Player

Production

After the commercial success of the first film, New Line Cinema and Walden Media purchased Richard Outten's spec script, Mysterious Travels, in March 2009 to serve as the basis for the film. In the story, the characters embark on a journey to a mysterious uncharted island thought to have inspired the writing of three literary classics: Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn were chosen to revise Outten's script. Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line announced that Journey 2: The Mysterious Island would be released on February 10, 2012.

Casting

Josh Hutcherson, who plays Sean, is the only actor to reprise his role from Journey to the Center of the Earth. The only other returning character is Sean's mother Liz, with Kristin Davis replacing Jane Wheeler in the role. Dwayne Johnson played Sean's stepfather, who accompanies Sean on the trip to find his missing grandfather Alexander, played by Michael Caine, on a mythical and monstrous island. Vanessa Hudgens was cast as Hutcherson's love interest, Kailani.

Release

Theatrical release

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released theatrically on February 10, 2012, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was accompanied by a 3D Looney Tunes short titled Daffy's Rhapsody.

Home media

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 5, 2012.

Reception

Box office

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island grossed $103.9 million in North America and $231.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $335.3 million, against a production budget of $79 million surpassing its predecessor. In North America, the film earned a $6.54 million on its debut Friday, ranking fourth at the box office. Over the weekend, it earned $27.3 million, coming in third place, much higher than the original's $21.0 million debut. Outside North America, Journey 2 began its run three weeks before its North American release. It topped the box office outside North America for two consecutive weekends and three in total. It surpassed the original's total outside North America. Its highest-grossing region after North America was China ($58.4 million), followed by Russia and the CIS ($17.6 million) and Mexico ($12.7 million).

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 129 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Aggressively unambitious, Journey 2 might thrill tween viewers, but most others will find it too intense for young audiences and too cartoonishly dull for adults." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade, stating that "the movie flies by pleasantly, and is then instantly forgettable. Perhaps Jules Verne can explain the science of that". Randy Cordova from the Arizona Republic said: "Johnson can't save the movie, directed by Brad Peyton, from being a sloppy skip from one seemingly unrelated idea to the next". Roger Ebert, who gave the first film two stars, gave the sequel two-and-a-half stars, stating: "It isn't a 'good' movie in the usual sense (or most senses), but it is jolly and goodnatured, and Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson are among the most likable of actors".

Accolades

Soundtrack

Letterbomb - Performed by Green Day

Sleep Forever - Performed by Crocodiles

Aloha Oe - Performed by Dwayne Johnson

Hello Again - Performed by Meta & The Cornerstones

Three Little Birds - Performed by Bob Marley & The Wailers

What a Wonderful World - Performed by Dwayne Johnson

Future

In August 2014, Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes were announced to write the script for a third film. Brad Peyton and Dwayne Johnson were expected to direct and star in the sequel, respectively. It was later stated that there would be two sequels. By January 2018 however, Johnson stated despite the financial success of The Mysterious Island, and although a third film titled Journey 3: from the Earth to the Moon (based on the 1865 novel) was intended, its development had been cancelled due to a lack of immediate interest and troubles in adequately adapting the novel. Despite this, reports from Hollywood production insiders arose in August 2020, stating that a sequel was once again in development. In December 2021, Hiram Garcia confirmed that Warner Bros. Pictures wants a sequel film, though Seven Bucks Productions decided to delay development in favor of pursuing other projects.

See also

List of underwater science fiction works

References

External links

Official website

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at IMDb

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at Rotten Tomatoes

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at AllMovie

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at the TCM Movie Database (archived)

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Now Shooting; Set Photos Surface at /Film