Review: Race to Witch Mountain (2009)

Director: Andy Fickman (The Game Plan, She's the Man)

Cast: Dwayne Johnson (Get Smart, Walking Tall), AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Alexander Ludwig (The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising), Carla Gugino (Watchmen, Spy Kids), Ciaran Hinds (Rome, Munich), Chris Marquette (Fanboys)

The Deal: Las Vegas cab driver Jack Bruno (Johnson) finds himself transporting two strange young kids, Sara (Robb) and Seth (Ludwig). It doesn't take long before he realizes they aren't from this planet, and they are on a secret mission. Unfortunately, their space ship is in government custody, and they are being tracked by not only government agents, but also a mysterious alien hunter bent on capturing what they are looking for. As the adventure and danger escalates, Bruno decides to stick by the kids as they race to Witch Mountain where a secret government base lays hidden.

Thoughts: I thought this looked pretty stupid based on the previews, but it turned out to at least be entertaining. It's nothing too special, but it was fun and full of more action than one would expect from a Disney film. Yes, lots of things worked out far too nicely for the characters, and some bits were fairly cheesy, but it always kept a serious tone in what the story was trying to accomplish. The film is meant for kids, and in that sense, it's quite solid, but adults may forget the film quite quickly.

For a big and intimidating guy like Johnson, he does a lot of these kid-friendly films. You'd think him out of place, but he works fairly well in the roles. His humor is funny enough for the kids to enjoy it, and he's the kind of hero they'd look for to help save the day. As for the two young stars, I thought Robb gave a better performance than Ludwig, though neither was what I'd consider bad. I like what I've seen of Robb, and I think she brings a fun and likable presence to her roles. Hinds is a good choice as the head government agent. Though adults will see him as just another man working for a secretive government, kids will truly see him as a bad guy. He has a slightly creepy look to him, and plays his part well.

I found it interesting that the hunter was a government agent from the kid's planet trying to stop them so their government could hide the truth. It paralleled a lot of what the kids said about the similarities between the two races. I was a little disappointed when the space ship turned out to be a flying saucer. It seems that nobody has an imagination when thinking up what a ship would look like. That being said, kids will recognize it more this way, and I actually thought parts of the ship were cool. I like the cockpit and the strange "sphere" that seemed to power the ship. It's nice to see someone finally showing us the inside of a saucer and not having it be generic.

Verdict: Though it's not a great film, kids will like it, and it is entertaining and fun enough, even for adult viewers. There's surprisingly a lot of action, and a few cool car chases. ☆☆☆