Race to Witch Mountain
PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements
Race to which mountain? Oh, that mountain. The one with The Rock and two teens from outer space driving around in a cab and on the run from an intergalactic assassin and some men in black. But what about the witch? Which witch? Oh, there is no witch. Just the mountain. Yeah, that mountain.
The Story
When he finds two teens with a wad of bills in the back of his cab, Jack Bruno (Duance "The Rock" Johnson) reluctantly agrees to drive them from Vegas out to the middle of the desert. When a bunch of black SUVs try to run the former mob driver and his passengers off the road, he thinks they're after him and doesn't realize the alien teenagers used their powers to stop the G-Men.
And when Seth (Alexander Ludwig) and Sarah (AnnaSophia Robb) tell Jack he can go away after dropping them off at the spooky old house miles from anywhere, he instead follows them in to make sure they're okay. Then he follows them through a secret door behind the fridge and down into an underground cavern that looks a lot like the Rain Forest Cafe. And then he tries to protect them from the alien assassin that tries to blow them up with blue fire.
After running and running and running, the trio pick up a stray dog and then decide they need the help of astrophysicist named Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino) to help them find their space ship and get back home to stop the destruction of two planets. And where is the ship?
Yep. Witch Mountain.
The Verdict
What we thought of the movie on its own terms
What Works: Disney's "Race to Witch Mountain" is a kind of re-imagining of the classic 1975 Disney film "Escape to Witch Mountain." I haven't seen that one since I was a kid, but I remember it being pretty spooky. It let you wonder for quite a while, I think, whether two orphaned kids might really be witches -- something that creeped me out -- before finally revealing they had survived the crash of an alien spaceship.
No mystery or creepiness this time around, though; just one chase scene after another. Some of the action here is decent, especially in the car stunts and special effects. AnnaSophia Robb is good as the alien girl, bringing a little warmth and heart to an otherwise unmoving film.
Duane Johnson is not in danger of stumbling into an Oscar anytime soon, but his beefy mugging and solid presence kind of works in these fast-paced throwaway Disney actioners and comedies. The rest of the cast is just okay.
What Doesn't Work: For me, "Witch Mountain" lost any remaining intrigue in about 60 seconds about halfway through the film. It takes that long for Seth to download to the audience the whole ridiculous story of his planet and his parents and the political schism there and why they must get home to save both planets.
Not only is the moment an artless info dump and way too silly, it also reduces this whole alien culture to a society as boring and frustrated and depleted as our own. Who cares about aliens if their worlds are just higher-tech, lower-functioning versions of our world? You want to hear The Rock say, "Thanks for stopping by; good luck with all that."
He doesn't. The movie just piles on another dozen chase scenes. The head Man in Black (Ciaran Hinds) sticks stubbornly to his unimaginative government mission to catch and dissect the kids, in spite of the reservations of his trainees.
Content: "Race" lands a PG mostly from action violence in which lots of men are taken down and lots of stuff blows up.
Worldview
How the film's take on life compares to a biblical perspective
"Race to Witch Mountain" isn't a huge message movie, but what it says loudest is that good guys are willing to sacrifice to help people in need. That's what Jack Bruno keeps doing for the alien kids, and that's what the kids are doing for their people.
Sarah, especially, seems interested in helping Jack to stop defining himself by his criminal past, but by his current choices. When Jack feels inadequate to help, Seth quotes Earth's Buddha: "You are what you think you are." In other words, think of yourself as strong and capable and good and you will be able to do the right thing at the right time and in the right way.
The Bible teaches a very different message, asking us to understand that we are not good, no matter how we imagine ourselves. Our sinful choices make us weak, and we are hopeless to change ourselves. Instead, goodness and power is available through faith in Jesus. His goodness is placed on us when we trust in Him (His death and resurrection) for the forgiveness of our sin.
Sarah also explains that her abilities to read thoughts and move objects with her mind are available on earth; we just haven't figured it out how to use our entire minds, yet. Dr. Alex declares her faith in the universe to bring things together, though she makes clear that it is science that does it (specifically "chaos theory").
God's Word also teaches that our minds must be renewed for our lives to be transformed. The goal, though, is to understand and live by God's will, not to make ourselves more powerful. (See Romans 12:1-2.) Our hope is to trust Him more, because He is the one who causes all things to work together for good for His those He loves and has called. (Check out Romans 8:28.)
Why torture a poor little movie like "Witch Mountain" over these big worldview ideas? Because they are big ideas. And ideas about truth matter, even when they're packaged into bite-sized morsels inside a Disney sci-fi action movie starring the Rock.
Yes, that mountain.
Questions
- Ever see the 1975's "Escape to Witch Mountain" or the 1978 follow-up "Return from Witch Mountain"? How'd this one stack up?
- Are you a fan of The Rock? What are some of your favorite films of his?
- Do you like AnnaSophia Robb and/or Alexander Ludwig? Happy with them here?
- Would it excite you to discover that there is intelligent life on other planets? Why or why not? Would it bum you out to learn their society is as corrupt, boring, and dysfunctional as our own?
- Do you agree with the Buddhist idea that "you are what you think you are"? What's the problem with that idea?
- Do you think humans will one day learn to use our minds to move objects or read thoughts? Why or why not?
- If you're a Christian, what would you say is the best way to renew our minds? Why do they need to be renewed in the first place?
Road Accident Claim on Nov 13, 2009 said...
An 1150 kg stunt car is being driven into a vertical loop that has a diameter of 35m, what is the minimum?
Road Accident Claim