A Montanha Enfeitiçada

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.

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.

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")

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.

I have nothing against remakes, and I had wanted to see Race to Witch Mountain for some time now. I think it is a decent movie, I do remember the original movie with fondness and feel it is a superior movie, however compared to other remakes I've seen like Psycho, Stepford Wives and Wicker Man Race to Witch Mountain is not a bad movie. It looks great visually, whether it is in the effects, the scenery, the cinematography or lighting. The soundtrack has some pleasing and memorable themes, direction is solid and the script while not award-worthy is good. The cast are fine, Dwayne Johnson carries the movie and he has so much charisma that it is a joy to watch him. AnnaSophia Robb once again proves herself a promising actress, and Ciaron Hinds is a fun villain. Only Carla Gugino disappoints, she's beautiful but her performance and character are dull and she and Johnson have no chemistry. The characters are on the stereotypical side particularly those of Gugino and Hinds, the pace is rather jerky in places and the story while having an appreciative nostalgia as well as a darkness the original didn't have I feel has a number of predictable spots. All in all, a decent if unexceptional family film. 6/10 Bethany Cox