Delayed Reaction: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

The Pitch: Jules Verne wrote a bunch of books. Throw a dart at the list and make a sequel.

How I Came Into It: I only recently saw the first movie. It was a very quiet hit in 2008. Josh Hucherson was still a couple months away from Hunger Games superfame and The Rock already had a reputation for breathing new life into franchises. At the very least, I expected this to be about as good as the first movie: not a high bar set.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) There's much worse ideas than making movies that are essentially Jules Verne fan fiction. That's an immediate plus. Swapping out Brendan Fraser for The Rock fits the movie better, although Fraser pulled off the emotional beats better. It was smart to expand out the cast too. Three people wasn't enough. Luis Guzman comes in and does what he needs and it's hard for me to complain about Vanessa Hudgens being on screen. Michael Caine was just gravy midway through. This is definitely a series I wouldn't be irritated to see get another sequel (which is good, because they are making one).

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Likable and easy to watch isn't the same as strong and engaging. It's a wacky story that I think kids would enjoy and parents wouldn't suffer through. And with the bar set low, as I previously mentioned, that's as much of a success as I could've hoped for.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend