Don't Race to Witch Mountain
Written: Mar 24 '09
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Bang For The Buck |
 |
|
|
Pros: Dwayne Johnson's muscles
Cons: Stupid one liners, bad acting
The Bottom Line: Don't bother with Race to Witch Mountain. 'Coraline' is a much better pick for children ages 10-12!
|
|
|
| lyoness913's Full Review: Race to Witch Mountain |
I try to take my 10 year old to the movies every week, and once in awhile we bring one of his friends. Last night's selection was Race to Witch Mountain starring Dwayne Johnson (formally known as 'The Rock) and Carla Gugino (Watchmen, The Unborn, HBO's Entourage). This Disney movie is sort of a remake of Disney's 1975 hit Escape to Witch Mountain. I can earnestly say that although I was only four years old in 1975, I remember liking the original movie much better than the new 'Witch Mountain.'
Dwayne Johnson is Jack Bruno, a cab driver in Las Vegas. It's a typical day for him. He picks up Dr. Alex Friedman (Gugino) and gives her a ride to Planet Hollywood because she is a guest speaker at an Outer Space convention. We see all of these people dressed as aliens and space monsters. After Jack Bruno drops Alex off, he picks up a couple of kids. Sara (AnnaSophia Robb, 'The Reaping') and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) would like for Jack Bruno to drop them off in the middle of the desert. He obliges, but he feels bad because they've overpaid him and he doesn't think the two of them should be alone. This is where the 'race' begins.
The children are aliens. It turns out that their planet is dying and they are looking for something to help it survive. They need to find what they are looking for and get back to their space ship so they can bring it home. There is a strict military on their planet and one of the soldiers has followed the children to Earth to try and kill them. The United States Government is after the children because they know they are aliens.
So.. We have a car chase. Jack Bruno is in his beat up taxi cab and he's fleeing dozens of Government SUVs and a creature who is immune to bullets. He is great at driving because he was a race car driver (conveniently). When he finally believes the children are aliens, he seeks help from Dr. Friedman and she becomes part of the wild race to find the space ship and ensure the children escape from the evil clutches of their tyrannical government and from the United States' Government which is really no better.
Race to Witch Mountain is nothing but a long chase involving cars and space ships. It's one narrow escape after another, and I found myself counting the minutes until the misery would end. It is full of Dwayne Johnson's muscles, which I appreciate. However, his acting is as phony as his glow-in-the-dark white teeth. His one liners and 'zingers' fall flat every single time and he's just a very bad actor. Carla Gugino is a much more talented actress, but her lines are stupid and tacky and there is absolutely no chemistry between Johnson and Gugino. It was agony watching both of them on screen.
The kids liked the movie because of the constant action, and I will say that it was very fast paced and action packed. The special effects are very cool and inviting to young children as well. There is quite a bit of violence in Race to Witch Mountain, including lots of gun action and fight scenes. I thought there was a little too much violence for a children's movie.
The bottom line is I really didn't like Race to Witch Mountain, nor did I appreciate it. The one liner jokes from Dwayne Johnson were so bad, it made the rest of the movie stink!
2 stars
Recommended:
No
Movie Mood: Action Movie
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Cast
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
lyoness913
|
 in Movies |
 in Books |
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Overland Park, KS
Reviews written: 526
Trusted by: 279 members
About Me:
Missing Epinions! Soo busy with kids!!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.