Race to Witch Mountain

In Las Vegas, the regenerated ex-con Jack Bruno (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) works as taxi driver. During an UFO Convention at Planet Hollywood, the skeptical Jack picks up Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino), who will present a scientific lecture in the event. Then he is pressed by two henchmen of his former boss, the criminal Wolff, that wants to talk to him, but Jack does not want to return to the crime life. Jack fights and gets rid of them; out of the blue, he finds two teenagers on the backseat of his cab. They tell that they are siblings, Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), and they need to travel to a location outside Las Vegas in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile the government finds a spacecraft that crashed nearby Las Vegas and is chasing the two aliens; after the investigation of the men of Henry Burke (Ciaran Hinds), they discover that the two siblings are the aliens. Jack Bruno, Sara and Seth are chased by Henry Burke's team and by the "Syphon", a killer from outer space that has been sent to kill them by the military of their planet that want to invade Earth. Sara and Seth explain that they traveled to Earth to collect scientific data of an experiment and save Earth from invasion, but they need to return immediately to their planet. Jack teams up with Dr. Alex to retrieve their spacecraft in a secret base in the Witch Mountain.

"Race to Witch Mountain" is a typical movie from Disney, i.e., a delightful family entertainment. The story is predictable and uses the usual clichés of the genre, with the heart-warming hero; the despicable villain; the chase and the car race; the corny conclusion after the first contact; despite of that, I liked "Race to Witch Mountain" a lot. The pleasant cast performs enjoyable characters, and I particularly like The Rock, AnnaSophia Robb and Carla Gugino very much; only the boy Alexander Ludwig is unknown for me. I do not understand why some masochistic viewers that do not like this type of movie waste their time watching them and then write bad reviews; what would they expect? My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Montanha Enfeitiçada" ("The Bewitched Mountain")

Engaging Walt Disney Sci-fi/fantasy in which we meet Seth (Alexander Ludwig )and Sara (Anna Rob) as they are arriving in a flying saucer that crashes at a mountain . They have special telekinetic powers which make getting along with the rest of the kids difficult . During their escape , they get a strong feeling about a Cabman (Dwayne Johnson ,The Rock) getting into a car across the street. They runs over to him and tell him that he should not get into the car. The man listens and reluctantly decides to help them . Just then out-of-control cars crash into the doors. They are pursued by evil agents (Ciaran Hinds , Tom Everett Scott) who happen to work for government looking for clairvoyant kids , hoping to put his special faculties to evil use and the children confront using their special powers . The discover their supernatural powers and effect they can have on humans . They escape their pursuers and meet up with a scientific expert on UFO ( played by Carla Gugino). She agrees to help them find a place called Witch mountain.

This mystery-fantasy is packed with noisy action , thrills, suspense and spectacular scenes with abundant computer generator effects. The two children with mysterious powers played by Alexander Ludwig and Anne Rob are enjoyable and The Rock is likable as tough and agreeable ex-convict cabbie . The picture results to be a modern remake of ¨Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)¨ and sequel ¨Return from Witch mountain (1978)¨ by John Hough but quite different , as the pursuer was a millionaire played by Ray Milland who wanted to use their powers for his own aims and in recent version is performed by Ciaran Hinds as government agent . As homage to former adaptation appears the children Kim Richards as Sara and Ike Isenmann as sheriff in a brief roles . Furthermore , the movie contains a colorful cinematography by Gardiner and moving musical score by Trevor Ravin . A good children's film with impressive special effects . The motion picture is professionally directed by Andy Fickman though with no originality because being a simple remake .

I think its nice that Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann have cameos in the film as a waitress and sheriff, they were the kids in the 1975 original. I remember my mother taking me to see it when I was seven. This is an all right film but the original was so much better. Dwayne Johnson (formally known as the Rock)takes over Eddie Albert's part as the earthman who befriends the two young aliens, the difference is that Eddie Albert could act a lot better! One thing I have to say about this film is that its certainly not boring! I would have loved to have seen the special effects budget. It has enough explosions and car chases for three films.

Hey, don't believe the downers trashing this movie. It's fun. Non-action stop from beginning to the end. Dwayne Johnson, who finally shed his former wrestling nom de lutre, is a much better actor than people are willing to concede. He has a mobile face and uses his big body well with a lot more expression and ability than some of the other shoot'em up and knock-about action heroes. This film, a remake of the old Disney classics with a CGI uptake and story rewrite, is entertaining, engaging and full of witty little pieces for the watchful viewer. When the alien bad guy gets knocked for a loop and everyone ducks for cover and the 2 UFO-Trekkie-types rejoice, (Wow. Best convention ever!) and the one I liked best, one of the nerd bad guys named Analyst D. Pleasance, for the veteran character actor, Don Pleasance who played the bad guy in the Disney originals. Also, Irish actor, Ciaran Hinds makes a superb Man in Black Suit bureaucrat villain and lovable Cheech Marin as the sleepy mechanic gets his licks in too, albeit in a bit part. The beautiful Carla Gugino comes across as the UFO seeking academic and Director Garry Marshall as the nut case UFOligist makes for good comic relief. The two kids add the mixture with AnnaSophia Robb reminding me of one of my granddaughters and Alexander Ludwigs serious facial expression adding to the fun. I found this film fun from the get-go and recommend it highly.

There was much complaining to be had when it was first announced this film was in the making. Understandably, fans of the previous two 'Witch Mountain' films were concerned that this was to be an unnecessary remake and a shoddy one, at that. However, 'Race to Witch Mountain' is not a remake but a sequel to the 1970s Disney films and, as someone who was worried themselves, I have to admit that it is actually quite a good film in its own right. The film begins with a space ship crash-landing on Earth, near Las Vegas, and agents of some sinister government group quickly work out that there were two occupants of the crash who are now on the run. It is then revealed that the two aliens are, in fact, fourteen-year-old siblings Sara and Seth who have psi abilities and have attached themselves to taxi driver Jack Bruno thus embroiling him in their adventure to allude the agents and an assassin from their own planet while retrieving an object that is the key to saving both their home and Earth. Along the way, the trio gain assistance from astrophysicist Alex Friedman and Junkyard the dog.

The teen leads AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig do a good job in portraying their roles as the young aliens who are more somber and restrained than typical human teenagers. They do well in both expressing this 'alien' awkwardness to their characters but differentiating themselves by the depiction of Sara as more empathic (in part, due to her telepathic skills) and open compared with Seth, the stand-offish sibling who initially doesn't trust humans. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, who plays Jack Bruno, is actually a bit of a surprise to me in this film because he proves he can bring a sensitive nature to his character and do more than just look good and jump around in action-packed scenes. While he's not quite ready for a part in 'Schindler's List', he does stretch himself as an actor and prove he can do the paternal with a deeper emotional side role with some flair.

In terms of the actual storyline, 'Race to Witch Mountain' is quite dark compared to recent Disney films over the last decade or so and it is a refreshing change to find a Disney film that is actually aimed at most of the family rather than primary school kids and shallow teenagers. The characters are put in danger, they are hurt, they have guns aimed at them (well done to Disney for this rather than dumbing down a la Spielberg with his rubbish re-release of 'ET') and they are hunted by adults who are not nice and never will be nice, and this all makes for a film that can be enjoyed by everyone over five. In fact, this is a very good film for sci-fi fans to introduce their children/younger siblings to the genre since there is a lack of age appropriate science fiction films out there for children. What was also a huge positive to this film was the absolute lack of teeny booper romance, as if Disney realised that it is possible to have a film featuring teenagers who don't fall in 'love'.

There were a couple of negatives to the film. It may have 'Witch Mountain' in the title but it really does not have much connection to the previous films other than cameos from the two former child actors of the 1970s film and the inclusion of male and female siblings. Although that does not diminish that this film is enjoyable in the slightest, it just seems that there could have been at least some tie-in/homage to the prequels. The character of Alex Friedman should have contributed more to the plot or should not have been included since she seemed to be there just for the sake of it, added on as an after-thought to provide a female adult lead.

In all, 'Race to Witch Mountain' is good family/sci-fi lite film to catch over the Easter holidays and it certainly does not let down the 1970s films. It's a film that almost reminds me of the 'old days' (pre-2000) when Disney was good for producing worthwhile family flicks that did not condescend entirely to the nine to thirteen crowd and with characters that were likable rather than obnoxious or snotty adolescent brats.