Dwayne Johnson (Doom, The Rundown) stars in Race to Witch Mountain, a "re-imagining" of 1975's Escape to Witch Mountain, Disney's first adaptation of the 1968 novel by Alexander Key, who made a career out of paranormal YA stories a generation before it was hip. Although details of characterization and plot may change with each transition, some points are invariant throughout, most notably alliteratively-named siblings with psychic powers, at least one reliable adult to help the twins against a much better connected heavy who represents the dark side of humanity, and of course the eponymous mountain itself.
Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia) are the alien twins, this time named Seth and Sarah, slightly older than usual at around 15, who appear in Johnson's cab shortly after crashing their flying saucer in the desert close to Las Vegas. Johnson's character Jack Bruno has problems of his own, having recently pulled prison time for crimes committed while working for the mob. He'd like to go straight ferrying tourists and convention shlubs around the strip, but as Sonny Corleone would have said, they… keep… pulling him… back… IN! This checkered past and one scene with a punching bag in his seedy motel room is what explains his soon to be demonstrated expertise at stunt driving and ability to quickly dispatch any terrestrial opponent. That and he's- you know- The Rock.
Evil Government Agent Burke (Ciaran Hinds, There Will be Blood) is on their tail immediately in any well-equipped EGA's obligatory fleet of black SUVs, which do not fare well against Sarah's telekinesis and Seth's ability to alter the density of his body. Just what the kids needed Jack for at all is never revealed, as Sarah at various times takes over the gas pedal and steering wheel from the back seat, and apparently knows how to drive primitive earth vehicles just fine. However, he comes in handy when the kids grab the doohickey they are meant to retrieve and are immediately attacked by a battlesuited counterpart of Burke from their homeworld who wants to destroy said doohickey and all who know what it contains.
Numerous cameos and visual jokes referencing the other versions appear; look for the actors who portrayed the original Tony and Tia as helpful inhabitants of a diner in a familiar small town. Andy Fickman (The Game Plan, next year's Jonny Quest) obviously directed with a lot of love and respect for the original, so it's a pity the result didn't turn out better. There is some wit, especially in depictions of a UFO convention that coincidentally is being held while all of this is going on, and plenty of action, but it never coalesces into anything beyond a servicable kids' film. The effects are so-so, the explanation of the importance of the doohickey is underwhelming, too many of the jokes fall flat, and dramatic tension is impossible with the kids' vague powers being capable or incapable of anything as the plot requires.
Highlights: mainly boil down to chuckles here and there upon recognizing one of the sight gags about Witch Mountain history and ufology in general, which are funny if you get them.
Extras: Modest but interesting selection includes blooper reel, a deleted scenes section where the director takes the time to explain why these particular segments ended up "on the cutting room floor", which is informative but also disappointing as they seemed to have taken the "Race to…" title change too seriously, as most of the changes come down to pacing concerns and would probably have improved the finished product in terms of content. Also included is a much-needed "Which Mountain?" guided tour of the in-jokes in the film, some of which are screamingly obscure or difficult to notice.
Presentation: The Race to Witch Mountain combo pack comprises three discs, a Blu-ray, a DVD, and a digital copy for your laptop or what have you. The Blu-ray is in 1080p Hi-Def and all are in Dolby 5.1 HDS digital audio with second audio tracks in Spanish and French and subtitles (including the Extras material) in all three languages.
Due to thwarted nostalgia, ComicsOnline gives Race to Witch Mountain 3 out of 5 coded references to a movie and a time 35 years gone.
Rated PG. 99 min.
