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Race to Witch Mountain
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexander Ludwig, AnnaSophia Robb, Ciaran Hinds |
| MPAA Rated: |
PG |
| Web Site: |
racetowitchmountain.com
raeetowitchmountainbluray |
| Released By: |
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Most definitely, for both the boys and girls. |
| Date Movie: |
Good for moms and dads. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
It's a Disney movie. I don't think so. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
In a PG kind of way. |
| Action: |
There is some chasing and perilous moments, but nothing horrible. |
| Laughs: |
Mostly geared for the kids. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
I'm a sucker for spaceships, so I liked when they start flying. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Nothing really. |
| Directed By: |
Andy Fickman |
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Cool Things About the DVD |
| Learn French! |
You get the standard English, Spanish, & Franch options. |
| Buy a New TV! |
Get the widescreen already. Just do it. It's so much nicer and they're not that expensive. |
| Buy a New
Stereo! |
If not a new stereo, you better at least be thinking about getting a Blu-ray. |
| Anything Else! |
It's got some bloopers and deleted scenes, the Blu-ray version has a short about some hidden things in the movie, and the Blu-ray also includes a normal DVD version and a Digital Copy for your portable viewing pleasure. |
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Race to Witch Mountain
A Movie/DVD Review |
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There’s a part of me that vaguely remembers the original “Race to Witch Mountain,” at a movie theater my Aunt and Uncle owned in Amherst, OH, and I vaguely remember I liked it, so I had some anticipation in seeing the revisiting with Dwayne Johnson when it came to the movie theaters a little while ago. For whatever reason I never made it to the theater, but was able to catch the Blu-ray version and I can’t say that it brought back joyous memories of a trip to the movies, but for what the movie set out to do, I thought it did okay.
Let’s get to the story…
Dwayne “Don’t call me ‘The Rock’ anymore” Johnson is Jack Bruno. He’s a cabdriver in Las Vegas who also likes boxing and just wants to keep his life clean. It’s UFO time in Vegas so all of the crazies are there, which happens to be very convenient for Jack because eventually he will be needing the help of ridiculed scientist, Dr. Friedman (the always lovely Carla Gugino), because low and behold, a spaceship has crashed and Jack happens to pick up the aliens, who remarkably look like two kids, with Sara being played by AnnaSophia Robb and Seth being played by Alexander Ludwig. And wouldn’t you know it, too, the government is after our aliens so they can steal their technology and probe their bodies, and even our aliens are being chased by an alien. Basically, there’s a lot of chasing going on.
Anyway, Jack develops a soft spot for Sara and Seth and does his best to help them stay safe and get to Witch Mountain, get their spaceship, and head back to their home planet so that their people don’t decide to take over the Earth.
Look, the story is simple enough: Cabbie picks up two aliens who need to break into a government fortress hiding a spaceship, and along the way he seems to fall in love with the alien specialist who can’t believe she is actually hanging with aliens, let alone a hunk like The Rock. Of course the government folks come off as a bunch of bumbling boobs because, well, otherwise the movie would be really short, and even the alien henchman dude is kind of a dope because he’s got some high-tech weapons and can’t kill The Rock, either.
But this movie is really about being fun for kids, where I think the younger ones will just find the spaceship cool, while the slightly older ones will like the chasing around more, and for that I think it does it’s job because the nerdy kid in me enjoyed it. It’s got a spacecraft, it’s got nice jokes, it’s got bumbling oafs, and it’s got a nice story about a dude trying to change his life around, being touched by two kids, and falling for the good-looking scientist.
For the parents I think “Race to Witch Mountain” might bring back some memory of a younger time, while just giving a nice evening the family can gather around, pop some popcorn, and enjoy some quality time. It’s a very solid 3 stars out of 5.
As far as the DVD and Blu-ray, there isn’t too much fare to set things apart because the bloopers aren’t that funny, and the deleted scenes explain why they were deleted. The Blu-ray version gives a little short on hidden things in the original movie, like “Can you figure out who in the new version were the little kids in the original?” thing, which is nice, but really, for the most part, get the Blu-ray because the movie just looks better.
A nice story, and maybe you can have some quality time with your kids before they grow up and don’t want to hang out with you anymore.
That’s it for this one! I’m the Dude on the Right!! L8R!!! |
