Dwayne Johnson admires his tiny elephant trunk in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

I didn't see 2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth but considering the cast changes and the simplicity of the plot, I don't exactly think I missed out because of it. Gone is Brendan Fraser and Jane Wheeler as Sean's parents and instead Dwayne the Rock Johnson is now playing his step-father while his mother has been re-cast with Kristin Davis now playing the small, generic and thankless part of his mother.

When Sean, now in high school, receives a mysterious signal from his grandfather, he and Hank (Johnson) head off to Palau, near where they've determined the signal is coming from. Sean is convinced that the signal will lead them to Jules Verne's mysterious island. Hank just hopes to bond with his step-son. They hire Gabato (Guzman) and his daughter Kailani (Hudgens) to fly them to the coordinates in their tour helicopter. When the helicopter crashes the four of them find out that Sean was right and they are in fact on the Mysterious Island of legend and Sean's grandfather, played by a mischievous and under-used Michael Caine, is living there.

The plot is very lightweight and seems to be aimed at young children. The island is brightly colored and filled with dangers that don't generate any serious tension. You never feel that anyone is in any danger despite a giant lizard and an erupting volcano. Guzman is there to provide comic relief but he's so bumbling and immature that only the under five year olds will find much to laugh at.

Once they arrive on the island they learn that it is sinking and so they spend the rest of the movie trying to get off of it. This brings up the movies biggest plot hole. The island turns out to be Atlantis (although how it got into the middle of the South Pacific is never explained) and apparently it rises above the ocean and then sinks below it on a 140 year cycle. Somehow though, the exotic animals and vegetation keep coming back every time it rises back up above water.

It is only the likability of Johnson and Caine that make the movie watchable at all, at least by grown-ups. Caine is a scene stealer and I wish he was in it more. The back and forth between the two of them provides the funniest moments. Although I seriously question the decision to have Johnson sing a version of Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World" while accompanying himself on the ukulele.

I actually paid the extra amount to see this movie in 3-D hoping that at least I would get some eye candy out of it, but I needn't have bothered. Apart from having some cherries bounce off of Johnson's pecs, the third dimension adds nothing to the second.

The ending hints at another sequel, possibly in space this time. I know that I for one won't be lining up to see it.

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