AMB Reviews

Race to Witch Mountain: 5/10 Stars

Release Date: March 13, 2009

Content Advisory: Rated PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations and thematic elements. There are many chase sequences, complete with gunfire and explosions. Several fist fights. Cars flips over and crash during chases and there are many intense moments.

Review:

"Race to Witch Mountain" is a sequel in a series that I thoroughly enjoyed. Now, with a bigger budget and much more CGI, this movie seems to have lost some of the power its predecessors had...

In Short:

In the tradition of "Escape to Witch Mountain," this film revolves around two alien children who are gifted with special powers. The girl, Sara, has a telekinesis-like power, in which she can move things with her mind. The boy, Seth, is basically able to withstand heavy objects and change the density of different objects. They collide with Jack, a normal taxi driver who just so happens to give them a lift. From there, it's chase sequence after chase sequence as Jack and his newly found partner, Dr. Friedman must help the children find their spaceship and return to their home planet. It's entertaining at times, but after so many chases, you tired fast, and the movie just becomes draggy. It's also very predictable, and you knew exactly what would happen at the ending... at the beginning.

In Full:

In "Race to Witch Mountain," Sara and Seth are two alien children looking for their spaceship. Unfortunately, the government has their spaceship and is out looking for them. When they get a ride from the taxi driver, Jack, he soon becomes entangled with their adventures, as they must escape from the government and return to their home planet. That's basically the summary of the story right there, and if you know Disney, you can probably predict the ending right there. I'm not going to give anything away, but they basically filled up nearly two hours with various chase sequences that all led up to an inevitable ending. Entertaining... yes. Draggy and cliche? Yes.

The acting posed more as just a cherry on top of a double chocolate-caramel sundae. No one really cares about it. Though Dwayne Johnson wasn't horrible as Jack... he just didn't seem to fit Jack's personality, and remained very emotionless throughout the film. His performance just wasn't believeable half the time. Anna Sophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig played Sara and Seth, and their job was to basically remain emotionless as well for the entire movie. Unfortunately, emotionless also equals boring in this case as well. The only solid performance I found in sight was Carla Gugino's, playing Dr. Alex Friedman. She doesn't really come in until halfway through, but when she does, she brings a certain charm to the screen that lit up the otherwise very dull acting.

The visuals were definitely where Disney was trying to excel. From raging gunfire, to unrealistic car crashes... this film has got it all. For me, however, it had more than enough. The movie has an excellent set-up... it really does. After the first chase, my blood was pumping and I was ready to see where it would lead to next. From there, however, it just went to another chase and an another one and another one. After a while, I thought to myself, "Didn't I just watch this?" The movie is also incredibly predictable, so as impressive as the visuals may have been... you knew exactly where the plot was going, making it even harder to enjoy the solid CGI.

As mentioned above, the movie did tick in at about 1 hour, 50 minutes. As repetitive as this movie became, I felt every minute of this movie. Some movies I leave the theater asking, "Did I really just sit there for 2 hours?" Others, including this one, I leave saying, "I just sat for 2 whole hours!" Notice the difference? I felt very unproductive sitting and watching this movie, while other movies keep you so entertained that you don't care how long they run. Besides, I already knew what the ending was going to be, and I was almost tempted to simply fast forward through all of the action scenes to get to the ending. All of the action did nothing really except slow down what was already a slow movie.

In conclusion, I recommend "Race to Witch Mountain" for the pre-teen group who are perfectly fine with sitting through an action-packed, predictable adventure. My 10-year-old sister was entertained throughout, and even commented that she wanted to buy the film on DVD. My friends and I, however, had other thoughts. There were parts, I will admit, that entertained me. The first twenty minutes, per say, were hugely entertaining and set up what could've been a great movie. The ending was also somewhat enjoyable to watch, even though you knew exactly where it would lead. Like walking down a path you've been down so many times before... you know exactly where it will take you. And though you may be fine with that, you eventually are going to want to take a path you've never walked down before... one that will take you into unknown and less predictable territory.