Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D is full of whizz-bang demonstrations of how far 3D technology has come--trilobite antennae quivering towards the audience; a T-rex lunging out of the frame; even affable star Brendan Fraser spitting on us--as well as a half-dozen action sequences clearly destined to become videogames or theme park rides. The plot is incidental: When a seismic geologist (Fraser) discovers his lost brother's notes in a copy of the titular Jules Verne novel; he and his nephew (Josh Hutcherson; Bridge to Terabithia; Zathura) head to Iceland. There; joined by a fetching mountain guide (played by Icelandic actress Anita Briem); they get trapped in a cavern and go down; down; down; finally arriving in a primeval underworld full of prehistoric beasts and carnivorous plants. It would be pointless to complain about the empty-headedness of it all; Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D aspires to be a kinesthetic experience. It wants to engage your adrenal glands; not your brain or your heart (the dialogue and characters are so generic; the script may have been cut-and-pasted from previous versions of Verne's book). Fraser; with his goofy handsomeness and accessible presence; provides a reasonably human axis around which all the frantic flying and swooping CGI effects revolve. The movie is as hollow as the world it depicts; but as mindless action movies go; you could do a lot worse. --Bret Fetzer