Race to Witch Mountain

This is a Walt Disney movie in the very essence of the meaning. As such, this is a movie that is suitable for the entire family. Watching it as an adult with no kids around, then chances are that you will find this movie to be too family-friendly.

The story is about a taxi driver in Las Vegas who find two teenagers in the back of his taxi. These teenagers claim to be from outer Space, and as things become turbulent around every corner, taxi driver Jack Bruno starts to think that there might be something to the extraterrestrial claims.

There is a lot of action and adventure in "Race to Witch Mountain", but it is done in a manner that allows even a younger audience to watch the movie as well. And the storyline is fast paced and has a good continuous flow to it.

The effects in the movie were good, and the visual effects department did a good job in bringing the movie to life on the screen.

While this isn't Dwayne Johnson's best movie, it is still fun and entertaining for the family to watch.

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 liked the idea, that this is not a remake of the Disney classic Escape to Witch Mountain(1975), it's more of a rebooted version. Some remakes try to be carbon copies of the original, like Pyscho(1998), and The Bad News Bears(2005). This films premise is sort of the same but others ways different.

The story begins in Las Vegas, where Jack Bruno(Dwayne Johnson) is a cab driver, and is really not a people person. But one day things change, when two siblings named Seth(Alexander Ludwig) and Sara(Annasophia Robb) enter his cab ask him to drive to a certain location, and they give him large sums of money. Jack is hesitant, but does it anyway. But then things are not so simply, when the government starts chasing them. Turns out these kids are aliens with special powers, that need to get to a certain location called Witch Mountain in hopes to prevent an alien invasion that could destroy earth. And a famed scientist(Carla Gugino) comes along for the ride.

Now the moments between Dwayne and the kids are memorable. But the rest of the film kind of falls on itself. The action and effects where alright but nothing you'd call spectacular. Carla Gugino I felt by watching that she was written in at the last minute,cause they wanted a beautiful actress for Dwayne play off of, but Dwayne and Carla have no chemistry. And she does not look like she is having any fun doing this, she is just in it to cash a paycheck. And so was the rest of the cast, besides Dwayne and the kids. I didn't know when too laugh at times, I mean there times it was funny, other I couldn't tell at times if they where trying to be funny or serious for some scenes.

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.