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Billed as a re-imagining of the classic 1970s Disney films Escape to Witch Mountain and Return From Witch Mountain (based on the books by Alexander Key), Race to Witch Mountain offers a new spin on the story. With a story by co-writer Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories, The Sorcerer's Apprentice), Race really does have little in common with the original tales. Make no mistake, originality isn't something you'll find much of in this film, but don't look for a simple remake either.
While the original tale focused on the protagonists trying to discover who they really are, here alien teens Sara and Seth (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) know exactly what's going on. They land (or crash, really) their spaceship on Earth on a desperate mission to save their home planet. It seems the advanced civilization, which learned to harness full use of their brains, managed to destroy their planet's atmosphere and placed it on a crash course to certain doom. Hippie mom, who found a way to save her planet instead of taking the popular route of simply invading and taking over Earth, is imprisoned and it's up to the kids to find the key stored on Earth and take it back to their home planet before it's too late for them... and us.
The teens encounter a taxi driver, guardian and even eventual friend in the form of Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson), a man with a checkered past with failed dreams, a heart of gold and plenty of integrity. Initially suspicious and wary of his fares, Bruno quickly takes a 180 and commits himself to aiding the kids in their mission when it starts to get dangerous.
For starters, the kids have the United States Government on their tails. Henry Burke (Ciaran Hinds) is a no-nonsense man on his own mission - to capture the aliens and figure out what makes them tick. He has support in the form of Tom Everett Scott and Christopher Marquette who manage to offer some comic relief, but Burke is not the classic bumbling antagonist who's really the butt of everyone's joke - he is very serious and very deadly. If the US Government wasn't enough, the kids aren't the only 'illegal aliens' on the planet either - they're also being stalked by a disturbing humanoid alien race called the Siphon (Tom Woodruff, Jr.). The good news is that there's only one Siphon on the case - the bad news is one is all it takes. Created by the Oscar winning specifical effects firm Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., the Siphon not only makes an on-screen debut that literally made audience members scream but also manages to have the best 'costume' at the UFO Convention which serves as a location for the film.
While the kids are running from the Siphon, they ultimately have to run to Burke because he has what they need - their ship - and it's at Witch Mountain. While the title location served as the Utopian destination of the classic films, here it's a top secret military installation that makes Area 51 seem like.. well, Disneyland.
Bruno decides to enlist the aid of astrophysicist Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino), an extraterrestrial research and speaker at the UFO convention, whom he met earlier as a cab fare and the team consults with Dr. Donald Harlan (Garry Marshall), the field's leading UFO conspiracy theorist. While neither Harlan nor Friedman have taken each other seriously in the past, the two find some common ground now that the truth's come out.
Racing against time (lest the Earth invasion occur), Bruno, Friedman and the kids set out to break into Witch Mountain so the kids can save both planets, but of course that's easier said than done.
Whereas the original film was more story-oriented and gentle, Race to Witch Mountain is an FX-driven action thriller. It's the Bourne Identity for kids. Director Andy Fickman (who also worked with Johnson on The Game Plan) enlists the aid of stunt coordinator (and quite established stuntman himself) Scott Rogers. In fact, Rogers worked on and performed in the Bourne movies and set out to bring some of that same action to the younger audience. Coupled with some great special effects, it helps to bring this older children's movie some real credibility in the world of action films. In fact, if you've seen the clip of Seth stopping the vehicle using just his body as they're being chased, just wait until you see the whole thing on screen - it's so much cooler.
Fickman does an honorable job on the film, although sometimes the action is so frenetic and filled with weird camera angles and quick cuts, it did seem hard to follow at points. Like the original, he has the kids speaking with a really flat tone which can seem more like bad acting at times instead, but they're trying to convey that they aren't acclimated to dealing with humans. At some point, however, most notably during the emotional goodbye scene, they get pretty human pretty fast - at least in terms of delivering lines.
There are a few nods to the classic films as well. While the group is in Stony Creek (the destination in the original), keep an eye out for Kim Richards and Iake Eissinmann who portrayed Tia and Tony in the original series. And if the tin-foil plastered Winnebago looks familiar, that's because it played a similar albeit more prominent role as Jason's (Eddie Albert) recreational vehicle.
Overall, Race is a pretty darn good action film that knows its audience and doesn't pander to or play down to it. It's probably not going to win any awards outside of the Kids Choice Awards, but it's definitely enjoyable enough that neither kids nor their parents should regret seeing it. If I have any real complaints, I think both the Siphon and - in particular - Garry Marshall are under-used. I sure hope the BluRay includes an additional audio commentary by Dr. Harlan.
I'd give it a good 3.5 out of 5. As far as kids go, it should be at least a solid 4.
Race to Witch Mountain opens nationwide March 13 and is Rated PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements.
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