Brendan Frasier stars as Mo Folchart, a Silvertongue who has the ability to bring out characters from books whenever he reads it out loud.  Years ago he lost his wife (Sienna Guillory) while reading Inkheart to his daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett).  Since then he’s been looking for a copy of the book in the hopes of bringing his wife back to the real world.

Maybe it’s a good thing that I haven’t read the book yet.  I didn’t have any expectations with regards to this movie.  Brendan Frasier takes another poke at the hero role and is decent at it.  Being a Paul Bettany fan, I’m glad to see him play Dustfinger the fire-eater.  His performance is brilliant.  Then there’s Andy Serkis who plays the main villain Capricorn.  It’s nice to see the face behind the voice of Gollum.

But someone who surprised me the most is the youngest member of the cast, Eliza Bennett.  Her acting is excellent. Plus, she sang the song that played during the end credits, video of which can be viewed below.

It turns out Meggie is also a Silvertongue and Capricorn captured her and forced her to bring the Shadow to the real world.  Then Meggie showed that the pen is mightier than the Shadow when she began making up a story and read it out loud, in the process eliminating Capricorn, Shadow and the rest of the bad guys from Inkheart.

Elinor Loredan (Helen Mirren):  Yes, a hundred times.  Along with St. Petersburg, Paris, Middle-Earth, distant planets and Shangri-la.  And I never had to leave this room.  Books are adventure.  They contain murder and mayhem and passion.  They love anyone who opens them.

Inkheart is feel-good, entertaining movie for the whole family.  It teaches kids that reading can be enjoyable.  Books are my friends and I love every moment I spent with them.  But these days I have no time for them anymore but I promise to make some reading time in the near future.

Aside from the casting, the CGI is lousy. The battle between the undead and the terra cotta warriors didn’t look that way. It was like a bunch of ants on the ground. Then there are the yetis. There are no words to describe what a letdown they were.

But the other action sequences were good, such as the chase scene during the celebration of Chinese New Year and Jet Li’s fight scene at the beginning. Speaking of Jet Li, I think that he and Michelle Yeoh were the saving grace of the movie. I also think that Hollywood newcomer Isabella Leong did a fine job in her action scenes. Although my dreams are still made up of her character in the Taiwanese movie Spider Lilies, where she costarred with Rainie Yang.

Alex O’Connell (Luke Ford): Good going dad. You’ve raised another mummy. In his tomb, it said he had control of the five elements.

I wish this is the last mummy that they would raise.

*Spoiler*
Lin is the daughter of Zi Juan and General Yang. Zi Juan sacrificed hers and her daughter’s immortality to summon the undead warriors to fight against the terra cotta warriors. Then Richard and Alex killed the dragon emperor by using the broken pieces of General Yang’s dagger.

The movie is about Prof. Trevor (Brendan Fraser) on the quest on finding out what happened to his missing brother. For this journey he took along his brother’s son Sean (Josh Hutcherson) and the best mountain climber in the mountain, Hannah (Anita Briem).

The Center of the Earth is visually good. The effects were believable and reality would be set aside for the duration of the movie. The mine cart scene felt like a real rollercoaster ride and the audience rode with the actors. My favorite is the magnetic rock scene. It had me holding my breath until Sean reached the other end.

Acting-wise, Fraser, Hutcherson and Briem did well. I think that Josh Hutcherson would definitely be a big star when he grows up. Fraser might be stereotyped in explorer roles but the role fits him well. No one can play Prof. Trevor like he does. As for Anita Briem, well she lights up the scene whenever she’s in it. She’s charming and tough at the same time.

Overall, Journey to the Center of the Earth is the perfect movie for the whole family. Kids and adults alike would surely be entertained by it. Being a big fan of the book and sci-fi in general, I truly enjoyed the movie. If the hint of a sequel in the end would push through, I’ll be the first in line for it.

Sean (Josh Hutcherson): I call dibs on the mountain climber.

Yeah right Sean.. hehe