***1/2 (out of 5)
Directed by: Brad Peyton
Screenplay by: Brian Gunn, Mark Gunn
Story by: The Gunn’s, Richard Outten, some hack named Jules Verne
Can you pop your pecs? There was much debate on the car ride home about who in the extended family could pop their pecs. This is a movie for kids. No more, no less. My tween girl and young son enjoyed it, as evidenced by their obsessive talk on pecs popping. For those unfamiliar, a man who can alternate the flexing of their chest muscles is popping their pecs. According to one character this is a sure way to a woman’s heart. Or was it pants? Something like that.
This movie just wants to please its target audience, and falters when it tries too hard. Sean (Josh Hutcherson) is snide and mopey, as much as a kids’ movie allows, around Best Stepfather Ever Hank (Dwayne Johnson). Sean and Hank experience a rapprochement over Jules Verne and code breaking which naturally means they need to go to an uncharted island to find Sean’s grandfather. You know Grandpa’s going to be British because he has the fanciest name, Alexander (Michael Caine). There’s an attempt at some depth with Hank being the kind, involved but rejected father figure and Alexander being the family-abandoning, remote but hero-worshipped father figure but then OMGOSH LOOK AT THOSE HUGE BUGS!!
I’m not sure what to think about Luis Guzman’s Gabato, the man so desperate for cash to send his daughter to college that he agrees to fly Sean and Hank to an uncharted place. Gabato’s not as brave as the other men, and although he can fly a plane through epic storms he doesn’t seem to have other skills except for falling down and making I’m scared faces and noises. Occasionally funny, but why did the comic relief have to be the one with the brownest skin? I think that’s a legit question, one to think about discussing with the kids.
Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens) is Gabato’s beloved daughter and Sean’s love interest, a token tough girl who still needs rescuing every now and then. Do I need to mention that her outfit involves PG-13-friendly cleavage and short shorts? Didn’t think so.
This is breezy action-adventure for the younger set, the actors involved seem determined to deliver a good time. Dwayne Johnson AKA The Rock is charismatic and likable here, just as he always is. There’s something about him that makes me want to root for him, and I hope he has a long and fulfilling career, whatever that means to him. And no I’m not referring to his pecs.
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