Director: Andy Fickman
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): PG
UK Release Date: 10th April 2009
Watched on Sky+ Monday 3rd May 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I fancied something that would entertain me, but at the same time wouldn’t tax my little grey cells too much. What better than a Disney action adventure, I thought, and I was right, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
In the desert outside Las Vegas an alien spaceship crashes, the two occupants get away, but the Department of Defence lead by Henry Burke is on the case. Meanwhile, Jack Bruno is an ex-con who is now trying to go straight and is making a living as a Las Vegas cab driver. Ferrying people from the airport to a UFO convention is getting a bit tedious for him. One of his passengers, Dr. Alex Friedman, gives him a ticket to her lecture; Jack thinks nothing of it and puts it in his visor. When two teenagers, Sara and Seth get into his cab his world is turned upside down. They ask him to take them to a desert location, offering him a very large amount of money. On the way there they are followed by Henry Burke and his team but the kids, being the aliens they are looking for use their special abilities to get away. Arriving at their destination the kids find an alien assassin is waiting for them, but they retrieve what they are looking for and escape with Jack. They now need to get to their ship, which has now been moved by Burke’s team. Jack remembers Alex Friedman and they go to the convention to get her help, not knowing they’ve been followed by the assassin. Escaping the assassin, they are now in a race to the location of their spaceship, Witch Mountain.
It’s all pretty well done, decent effects, an easy to follow story, likeable characters (the good guys at least) and some reasonable performances. For me, the villain, Burke, was not as threatening as the assassin, but I guess it was made for kids and you can’t make them too scary. For the performances, honourable mentions go to Dwayne Johnson as Jack Bruno, AnnaSophia Robb as Sara, Alexander Ludwig as Seth, Carla Gugino as Dr. Alex Friedman and Ciarán Hinds as Henry Burke.
Over all, it’s not great, but at the same time it’s not rubbish. It’s family entertainment and, as I said at the beginning, it does just what it says on the tin. I should point out there’s not a lot for the adult viewer, but it’s all very well made. My little grey cells weren’t too taxed and it was entertaining. Recommended for those who just want to switch off the little grey cells for a while and just be entertained.
My score: 5.6/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1075417/
Official Site: http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/race-to-witch-mountain.html
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1228473113/
Running time: 95 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): PG
UK Release Date: 10th April 2009
Watched on Sky+ Monday 3rd May 2010.
PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I fancied something that would entertain me, but at the same time wouldn’t tax my little grey cells too much. What better than a Disney action adventure, I thought, and I was right, it does exactly what it says on the tin.
In the desert outside Las Vegas an alien spaceship crashes, the two occupants get away, but the Department of Defence lead by Henry Burke is on the case. Meanwhile, Jack Bruno is an ex-con who is now trying to go straight and is making a living as a Las Vegas cab driver. Ferrying people from the airport to a UFO convention is getting a bit tedious for him. One of his passengers, Dr. Alex Friedman, gives him a ticket to her lecture; Jack thinks nothing of it and puts it in his visor. When two teenagers, Sara and Seth get into his cab his world is turned upside down. They ask him to take them to a desert location, offering him a very large amount of money. On the way there they are followed by Henry Burke and his team but the kids, being the aliens they are looking for use their special abilities to get away. Arriving at their destination the kids find an alien assassin is waiting for them, but they retrieve what they are looking for and escape with Jack. They now need to get to their ship, which has now been moved by Burke’s team. Jack remembers Alex Friedman and they go to the convention to get her help, not knowing they’ve been followed by the assassin. Escaping the assassin, they are now in a race to the location of their spaceship, Witch Mountain.
It’s all pretty well done, decent effects, an easy to follow story, likeable characters (the good guys at least) and some reasonable performances. For me, the villain, Burke, was not as threatening as the assassin, but I guess it was made for kids and you can’t make them too scary. For the performances, honourable mentions go to Dwayne Johnson as Jack Bruno, AnnaSophia Robb as Sara, Alexander Ludwig as Seth, Carla Gugino as Dr. Alex Friedman and Ciarán Hinds as Henry Burke.
Over all, it’s not great, but at the same time it’s not rubbish. It’s family entertainment and, as I said at the beginning, it does just what it says on the tin. I should point out there’s not a lot for the adult viewer, but it’s all very well made. My little grey cells weren’t too taxed and it was entertaining. Recommended for those who just want to switch off the little grey cells for a while and just be entertained.
My score: 5.6/10
LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1075417/
Official Site: http://disneydvd.disney.go.com/race-to-witch-mountain.html
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi1228473113/
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1 comment:
I agree with your summary there although I'd probably rate the film a little higher. An enjoyable fable with enough laughs to keep the kid in you going till the end.
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