| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
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| Story: |
C+ |
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| Acting: |
B- |
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| Direction: |
B- |
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| Visuals: |
B |
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Family Entertainment - y'know... For Kids!!!
by bck (movies profile)
Mar 13, 2009
14
of
20 people found this review helpful
Dsney has a huge catalog of family films, a lot of which are just screaming for a remake. Of course, not all of them should be remade, but I suppose given the technology for effects these days, some of those early classics could benefit for an update. Although not necessarily better than the original, some of the remakes do hold par such as The Parent Trap and Freaky Friday (both remakes had Lindsay Lohan, not to mention a Herbie make-over).
While the original Escape To Witch Mountain played mostly on the mystery of the kids who turned out to be aliens from another world, Race to Witch Mountain plays up the outer-space card right from the beginning, tracking UFO sightings and conspiracy and government involvement, all through the opening credits. Heck, even the UFO is in the poster. There goes the wish-fulfillment bit out the window (Y'know, the special powers, the mysterious star patterned pack, the kindly stranger).
Instead we start with Jack (Dwayne Johnson) who suddenly finds two kids, Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) in the backseat of his cab, and reluctantly takes them as a fare. The pace of the movie is fast and it barely leaves breath to question all the plot-holes and deus-ex-machina that come up every now and then. Okay, so the kids are aliens and they can do some unusual stuff, but still. even the original stars, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann (Tia and Tony from Escape to Witch Mountain), turn up to lend some assistance to the current kids.
Both Robb and Ludwig are capable as almost emotionless alien kids on a mission. Johnson continues building his family friendly image (his previous kid-friendly movie, The Game Plan was also directed by Andy Fickman), which isn't much of a stretch for him. His early scenes set up his character very quickly establishing his driving and fighting prowess. Carla Gugino (who's also in Watchmen) plays a UFOlogist, Dr Alex Friedman, who gets recruited a little later in the movie to help the kids out. She seems to be having the most fun here, probably having more to do than in Watchmen.
There are some creature effects, courtersy of Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis (they also contributed to Dragonball Evolution), surrounding the alien hunter, which are pretty decent. The CGI effects however, in one very particular scene that practically destroys the movie (can someone say, "rush job?") barely rise above adequate.
In the end however, everything in the movie - from the story to the acting to the effects work - suggests that this is a Witch Mountain for this generation, aimed squarely at the kids. Anyone with some fond memories of the original, even with the now cheesy effects (and remember that it was made in the mid 70s, preceding Star Wars), is likely to be disappointed. If you can forgive all of that, however, Trevor Rabin's very driven score and the chase sequences (with customary checking of brains at the door) can lead to a fairly enjoyable viewing.
Until you get to that scene with the oh-so-bad CGI effects and go, "What the hell was THAT?" I so wanted to like this one. |
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