Race to Witch Mountain: Review By Rama's SCREEN

The so-so remake of the year. You won’t be blown away by RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN and you won’t miss out on much if you don’t see it either. It’s got some thrilling moments thanks to… the UFO chasing the taxicab, and the movie does a good job at entertaining young audiences with all the special effects and the spaceship and humor intended for kids only. But to me, in the end, the movie is just one big blah!

Here’s another movie about environment and saving planet earth once again. If I could get a penny for everytime I come across a movie with this kind of agenda, I’d buy me the Bahamas by now. First half of the movie might get you as confused as Dwayne Johnson’s character as to what on earth (or beyond the earth) is going on. The pacing is a bit inconsistent, the direction is all over the place, and it’s too predictable but it’s a family movie that comes out in the spring, so what’d you expect, right?

WWE Superstar turned actor The Rock, who now only goes by his real name Dwayne Johnson once again tries to be the ordinary honest joe-schmo with a rough background, the perfect ingredient for a hero and I think Johnson gives a decent job of pulling that off except he could definitely show some more ‘kick’ to his performance, because there are times when you can tell his character’s supposed to panic and yet his reaction doesn’t show it. Maybe he’s too concerned about looking all macho.

Carla Gugino who is an eye-candy plays the sexy professor (something you don’t see everyday), is a character way too familiar, the ones that others mock but then something comes along and proves her right, other than her looks, she doesn’t add much for her role really.

Annashopia Robb and Alexander Ludwig who play the two young alien passengers must’ve seen a thousand alien sci-fi movies or something because they have that robotic, clueless but know-it-all expressions down pat.

By the way, is it just me or does Anna Sophie Robb look like she could play a younger version of Keira Knightley?!

I kinda have to blame the director Andy Finkman who also helmed The Game Plan. The tone of this movie is flat, for the most part you feel like you’ve been robbed, it dumbs you down and only has a few exciting scenes that come off desperate because without them, the audiences would’ve walked out halfway through the movie already. Frankly, it baffles me why Disney keeps hiring Finkman to do their bidding.

What irritates me is Cheech’s cameo who doesn’t do much as a comic relief, the movie doesn’t allow him to be what he’s famous for, what you’d usually expect him to be.. a show-stopper.

The only actor that does a splendid job in this movie is Ciaran Hinds who was fantastic in Munich and HBO series Rome and he’s just too damn good for this kind of gig, an easily forgettable family movie.