A movie break

M and I took a break this weekend and went to see Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.  M liked the first one (Journey to the Center of the Earth) better than I did (she's more of a Brendan Fraser fan than I am), but we both enjoyed the relatively mindless fun of this adventure movie.  It's something of a teenage boy's fantasy, beginning with a motorcycle chase that strains credulity because it should have landed the teenage main character in jail.  They even show the police catching the kid, but then letting him go because they know the step-dad, a fact that remains unexplained for the whole movie.  The Rock is the step-father, and Michael Caine shows up as the boy's grandfather, which is an interesting contrast.  Their characters don't get along well at the beginning, but they earn each others' respect by the end.  Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame plays the love interest, and Luis Guzman plays her father, who dreams of a better life for her.  The main conceit of the mysterious island is that small animals become large and large animals become small.  This creates all kinds of preposterous escapes and exciting chases, but the overall plot is a light mash-up of adventure stories that are vaguely remembered by most adults these days.  It's light entertainment with souped up graphics, which seems to be standard fare from Hollywood these days.  Very few surprises, but enjoyable nonetheless.  The best thing about it may be that we had the whole theater to ourselves.  I guess movies don't last too long these days in the theaters.