Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was released on Feb.10, following the popular box office hit Journey to the Center of the Earth featuring up and coming star Josh Hutcherson.

After decoding a message stolen from a secret facility, Sean Anderson (played by Josh Hutcherson) and his new step father Hank (played by Dwayne Johnson) travel to the mysterious island to find Sean’s grandfather. In need of a helicopter ride to the island, they meet Kailani (played by Vanessa Hudgens) and her dad who become part of the group.

The variety of actors targeted many different audiences to bring families together, but the on-screen chemistry failed. Hudgens could not ditch the peppy High School Musical attitude making her character Kailani seem insincere.

Kailani also played hard to get with Sean, but quickly fell head over heels in the end.  The couple seemed like a last-minute idea to bring in more movie-goers.  The quick elevation of romance caught me off guard because there was no development in the relationship at any point.

Hutcherson is the only actor returning from the first movie and was the best by far coming into the second. Unlike the other cast members, Hutcherson had believable emotion towards his conflicts with Hank finding his rebellious side.

He was able to play the genius boy role well because he showed believable determination to find his grandfather and the island giving his character more depth.

The plot was weak in many aspects because of the lack of any real conflict. After finding Atlantis, the group quickly understands the island is sinking and will be back under water in less than a few days. Although there were some pretty big birds and scary lizard dragons, there was never any presence of real danger.

The movie had a lot of potential to be an amazing journey– finding the city of Atlantis– but fell short. Instead, it relied on 3D effects and a popular cast list. Journey 2 is not a bad movie, but it is easily forgettable.