I am an avid movie watcher, a lover of the cinema. And the very first movie I can recall seeing, ever, was 'Escape to Witch Mountain' back in the 70s sometime, at a Kodak "family" day my parents worked for Kodak in Rochester, NY and they had us all watch this movie on a big screen in the basketball stadium. So, I thought it fitting, that for my 35th birthday, I would go see the re-imagining of that film: 'Race to Witch Mountain.' I sure did love that original movie when I was a child. I could relate with the boy in the film and imagine myself as him and sister (I, too, have 1 sister/sibling.) Unfortunately, you get none of the magic in this update. You do get two kids who know they are aliens, an ex-con-turned-straight cabbie who befriends them and a bounty hunter out for them. These are all new to the 2009 film. In fact, very little is transferred from the original to this, other than the fact there's two alien kids who can use telekinesis, a mobile home and a place called "witch mountain." I give Disney kudos for making another kid/family friendly film void of language, sex, drugs and nudity. Unfortunately, they erased any of the adventure of the original and added a boat-load of violence along with an unusually bad performance of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who nearly killed the film with bad acting and dialogue. 'Race' is not an appropriate term, much as 'Speed 2: Cruise Control' was in 1997 as neither contained any sort of speed. Not recommended, though not a horrible film. It's just that the original was so much more entertaining and wholesome. Might be great for the 10-14 year old male crowd, but avoidable for the rest.
Review of Race to Witch Mountain
