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Brendan Fraser and Josh Hutcherson

POOR old 3D has had a rough ride for a relatively recent technology.

Having been embraced, and then derided, it's back with a bang again, and some filmmakers are banking on its appeal to add another dimension to their potential box office.

Just such a filmmaker is Eric Brevig, a visual effects expert who makes his directorial debut with this film. Given how heavily effects feature during its duration, he would appear to be just the man for the job.

Brendan Fraser, soon to appear in the conclusion to The Mummy trilogy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, plays the lead role, one not that dissimilar to his part in the afore-mentioned series of blockbusters.

He's Professor Trevor Anderson, who's about to be booted out of his lab because his experiments and research don't seem to be achieving any valuable results.

Things get a little more interesting when his sister-in-law brings his nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson) to stay for a few days, and drops off a box of possessions belonging to her husband, Trevor's brother Max. The latter disappeared whilst off on an expedition connected to Verne's book, a copy of which he'd covered in calculations.

When Trevor picks up the book and notices that some of the numbers seem to correspond to data he'd been examining, he sets off, Sean in tow, to investigate.

The only thing shocking about this version of Verne's story, which has been adapted for film and television on numerous previous occasions, is that its makers haven't altered the spelling of its title for its British release, meaning its British Board of Film Classification certificate reads center, not centre.

Aside from that disgrace, it's an uber family-friendly adventure, one which will not upset anxious parents or children at all. It depends whether that's what you want to go to the cinema to see.

As the totally implausible plot unfolds, Trevor, Sean and their guide Hannah (Anita Briem) end up in all sorts of the usual japes, falling down holes, being attacked by any number of creatures (including a T-Rex) and the obligatory roller coaster ride in mine carts.

The 3D preview screening I attended was packed with young kids, and they seemed to like what they saw, screaming with excitement in the opening moments as even the studio's logo was rendered more interesting by its being three-dimensional.

If you're interested in seeing this film, you definitely want to see it in 3D, which is available locally at ODEON. Then all the moments when something has been included just to make best use of the format - someone spitting water into the camera lens, for example - will come alive, and not just seem like redundant time-wasting.

Walden Media may have done their utmost to keep this film innocuous, including muddying the one death in the plot by removing the money shot of the dead body.

But for parents desperate for something to take the kids to, the running time of 92 minutes will pass benignly enough, thankfully enlivened by one jump-in-your-seat moment courtesy of a nasty, man-eating fish.

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