Out on DVD today (Tuesday) is the Disney film Race to Witch Mountain, based on the novel Escape to Witch Mountain, and two movies made in the 1970's. Film stars AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig as two aliens who crash on Earth, and are helped by cabbie Dwayne Johnson, who drives them around so they can find an alien device and, ultimately, their ship.
This film is empty, unmagical, and nearly devoid of any joy. Race is just what it's name implies: one long chase scene and nothing else. There are car chases and action galore, but little character development. We get the two alien's life story in all of about 1 minute of exposition. Weirdly, the aliens, for being brother and sister, don't have chemistry the way Kim Richards and Iake Eissinmann did in the two 70's films; an hour after watching the film, I literally can't remember if the two kids even looked at each other, let alone spoke to each other (granted, there's not much time for dialogue; the bad guys are always right behind them, and what dialogue there is, is not funny, interesting, or memorable.) Richards and Eissinmann, by the way, have small cameos; their scene, like the whole movie, is hectic and thus their performances go for naught. The only thing that kept me watching was the break-neck speed of the film and the goodwill that Johnson and co-star Carla Gugino had earned from other, better work.
One important note to families: while I rarely concern myself with the political correctness or family values of a film, Race actually seems very blatant in being inappropriate for young kids. The two teens are in a constant state of peril, most noticeably by the heavy amount of guns used throughout the film, even going so far as to have dozens of soldiers shoot automatic weapons directly at the kids!
I would say the film is completely skippable, especially for younger kids.
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