Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is a 2012 American science fiction comedy adventure film directed by Brad Peyton and produced by Beau Flynn, Tripp Vinson and Charlotte Huggins. It is the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008). Following the first film, the sequel is based on another Jules Verne novel, The Mysterious Island (1874). The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Hudgens, Luis Guzmán, and Kristin Davis. The story was written by Richard Outten, Brian Gunn and Mark Gunn, and the screenplay by Brian and Mark Gunn. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released in cinemas on February 10, 2012, by Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Walden Media to mixed reviews, but became a box office success with a worldwide gross of nearly $335 million, surpassing its predecessor. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released on DVD/Blu-ray on June 5, 2012.

Plot

It has been four years since the previous adventure. Seventeen-year-old Sean is caught by the police after a brief chase on his dirtbike. His stepfather Hank arrives when a police officer friend calls him, explaining that Sean had broken into a satellite control center.

Hank discovers that Sean accessed the satellites in hopes of enhancing a coded signal he suspects was sent by his long missing grandfather, Alexander Anderson. Wanting to bond with his stepson, Hank helps decipher the code of Jules Verne characters which lead to three books: Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels, and Verne's own Mysterious Island. Using the books' individual island maps, Hank uses a backlight to make them a single island, complete with the coordinates to its location. Hank manages to convince wife Liz to let him take Sean in search of the island to bond with him, but also slightly hoping to prove to Sean that there is no mysterious island there.

They arrive in Palau, where they hire helicopter tourism guide Gabato and his daughter Kailani (on whom Sean develops an immediate crush) to fly the to the coordinates. The helicopter gets caught in a cyclone and they crash into the Pacific, waking up on the island.

Moving inland, they are shocked to discover miniature elephants and giant butterflies. When they come across an egg clutch belonging to a vicious giant frilled lizard, they are saved by Alexander. He takes them to a hut he built from the wreckage of the ship that brought him to the island. He has a working radio, but due to the positioning of the satellite, it will be two weeks before they can call out.

The next morning, Alexander leads the group to the lost city of Atlantis, which he calculates re-submerges every 70 years, for an extended period. When Hank discovers sea water appearing from the ground, he concludes that the island will sink in a couple of days. Their only means of salvation seems to be the legendary Nautilus, Captain Nemo's submarine. Kailani enters Nemo's crypt and finds his journal, which shows that Nautilus is in a cave at Poseidon's Cliffs.

To cross the mountainous island, they mount giant bees to fly over a high ridge and makeup time. When giant bee-eater birds try to devour them, Sean saves Kailani's life, but dislocates his ankle. Hank and Alexander reset Sean's ankle, then the group has a bonding moment when Hank sings his rendition of "What a Wonderful World" to ease Sean's pain.

The next morning, the water has risen greatly and Hank deduces that the island will sink in a matter of hours. Gabato is missing, having gone toward the island's golden volcano in search of gold to give his daughter a better life. While Alexander and Kailani go after him, Sean and Hank head for Poseidon's Cliffs. Alexander also finally calls Hank by his preferred name, rather than "Henry", and the two fully bond.

To reach Nautilus' underwater cave, Sean and Hank create makeshift oxygen tanks and dive down fifty feet, but are nearly killed by a giant electric eel. The 140-year-old batteries have run down, so they engineer a way to start the submarine with the eel's electricity.

Kailani and Alexander find Gabato and convince him to escape with them instead of trying for the golden volcano. As they near Poseidon's Cliffs, the volcano violently erupts, creating lava flows and ejecting flaming lava bombs. Sean and Hank arrive in Nautilus just in time to rescue the others from the water. Gabato pilots the submarine out of harm's way while Hank and Sean fire torpedoes into the path of falling island debris. As they clear the dangers, Kailani kisses Sean for his bravery.

Six months later, Kailani and Gabato are well off, as he runs the most popular tourist attraction on Palau – tours aboard the Nautilus. Kailani visits Sean on his birthday. While the family celebrates, Alexander arrives with a book for Sean's birthday present – Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon, Alexander's suggestion for the next new adventure with the family.

Cast

- Dwayne Johnson as Hank Parsons, Sean's stepfather and a former Navy code breaker.

- Josh Hutcherson as Sean Anderson, Hank's stepson who wants to find his missing grandfather on the Mysterious Island.

- Vanessa Hudgens as Kailani Laguatan, Sean's love interest who is part of the father-daughter tour guide company.

- Michael Caine as Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather also the father of Max and Trevor Anderson from the previous film.

- Luis Guzmán as Gabato Laguatan, Kailani's father, who is part of the father-daughter tour guide team.

- Kristin Davis as Elizabeth "Liz" Parsons, Sean's mother and Hank's wife. Portrayed by Jane Wheeler in the previous film.

- Stephen Caudill as Officer Jim, a police officer who is a friend of Hank's.

- Anna Colwell as Jessica

- Branscombe Richmond as Tour Guide

- Walter Bankson as Hockey Player