This new version of the oft-told tale has a clever twist, suggesting that Jules Verne wasn’t just a science fiction novelist, but rather a visionary whose fantastical adventure stories were actually true travel tales in fictional guise. Thus, his 1864 novel not only appears in the movie, but becomes a sort of guide for the intrepid modern adventurers as they make their way through the heretofore unseen wonders millions of feet beneath the earth’s crust. This also helps to make Verne’s 19th-century wonders, including snapping plants, giant mushrooms, sea monsters, and rampaging dinosaurs, seem a little less hokey. Not everything works as well as it should and it’s hard to get away from the feeling that the film is little more than a 3-D theme-park ride expanded to feature length, but you might just find yourself won over by its amiable lack of cynicism and generally beguiling take on old-fashioned action-adventure. (Starplex 16, Waco, TX)