Mining the nostalgia of our childhood memories has become common practice in Hollywood. This time Disney plunder their own back catalogue with the 1975 Escape, and 1978 Return, to add a modern spin on the Witch Mountain prefix, Race to.
Taking very little from the original, bar the telekinetic kids and titular destination, Race to Witch Mountain is the sci-fi story of Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson), a washed-up Nascar driver turned Las Vegas cabbie who picks up two intergalactic passengers, Sara and Seth (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig). Caught up in a mission to save their home planet, the trio must dodge shady government agents, an outer space assassin, and ultimately find their way to Witch Mountain.
“Race” is a very apt word with which to describe the pace of the movie. From the opening shots it never lets up, and that’s a problem. It’s refreshing to watch a kids movie without innuendo, and an innocence as pure as Disney’s best live-action output of the past; not as passive as That Darn Cat but children’s entertainment through and through. So the lack of breathing space allowed because of the breakneck editing and relentless exposition is frustrating.
So what does work? Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson continues to carve out a likeable on-screen persona, the little character development afforded by the script is injected with his own brand of off-kilter smile and tongue in cheek delivery. The kids are alright; asked to act with the deadpan delivery of superior intelligence, only Robb creates something approaching likeable. Ludwig remains just plain weird.
The action is scattershot and too frequent to be memorable, it’s hard to pick a stand-out moment among the unspectacular, but the train in tunnel sequence does conjure up some welcome tension, and the annoying Stormtrooper passengers certainly deserve a chuckle.
Not a patch on the original films, but very few remakes are, this does succeed as twee, uncomplicated kiddie fodder to rank alongside the Spy Kids franchise (and it has to be said it’s marginally better than that).
[etRating value=“ 2”]
Taking very little from the original, bar the telekinetic kids and titular destination, Race to Witch Mountain is the sci-fi story of Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson), a washed-up Nascar driver turned Las Vegas cabbie who picks up two intergalactic passengers, Sara and Seth (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig). Caught up in a mission to save their home planet, the trio must dodge shady government agents, an outer space assassin, and ultimately find their way to Witch Mountain.
“Race” is a very apt word with which to describe the pace of the movie. From the opening shots it never lets up, and that’s a problem. It’s refreshing to watch a kids movie without innuendo, and an innocence as pure as Disney’s best live-action output of the past; not as passive as That Darn Cat but children’s entertainment through and through. So the lack of breathing space allowed because of the breakneck editing and relentless exposition is frustrating.
So what does work? Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson continues to carve out a likeable on-screen persona, the little character development afforded by the script is injected with his own brand of off-kilter smile and tongue in cheek delivery. The kids are alright; asked to act with the deadpan delivery of superior intelligence, only Robb creates something approaching likeable. Ludwig remains just plain weird.
The action is scattershot and too frequent to be memorable, it’s hard to pick a stand-out moment among the unspectacular, but the train in tunnel sequence does conjure up some welcome tension, and the annoying Stormtrooper passengers certainly deserve a chuckle.
Not a patch on the original films, but very few remakes are, this does succeed as twee, uncomplicated kiddie fodder to rank alongside the Spy Kids franchise (and it has to be said it’s marginally better than that).
[etRating value=“ 2”]
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