The movie flies by pleasantly, and is then instantly forgettable. Perhaps Jules Verne can explain the science of that.

This is transcendently goofy. It isn't a "good" movie in the usual sense (or most senses), but it is jolly and good-natured, and Michael Caine and Dwayne Johnson are among the most likable of actors.

Massively throwaway, but funnier and more likable than the first entry. Mainly that's due to an A-list pairing that's as inspired as it is demented.

A fun though rarely funny family adventure whose lively special effects compensate somewhat for actors who largely sleepwalk through their roles.

As the band of adventurers skips from one supersized Survivor-like challenge to the next, one can't help feeling the creative potential of Verne's vision is wasted.

The look of the film is impressive, as are the effects. Overall, however, it's a big, loud, 3-D-drenched jumble.

The film is endurable owing solely to Johnson, a veteran of bad kids' movies whose sense of when to dial up the charm in such a generic, soulless entertainment remains impeccable.

This adventure strands Johnson's famously animated features in eyebrow jail, and squanders his outsized charisma and gift for winking self-deprecation in a thankless worried-stepfather role. It doesn't call for much, beyond a lot of muscles and an ever-present look of concern for his whiny stepson.

The result is a goofy-weird mishmash of some pretty swell CGI creatures and some downright lousy screenwriting.

Prizes computer-generated wizardry above logical plotting or thoughtful character development, a misguided set of priorities exacerbated by the fact that said digital effects prove so chintzy.