Disney has rummaged its vaults to revisit Alexander Key’s novel “Escape to Witch Mountain.”
Adapted for screen twice before, the movie’s title has been changed this outing to “Race to Witch Mountain,” and it features local light AnnaSophia Robb in a key role.
In this loose adaptation, a space saucer lands in the desert. Shortly after, Las Vegas Yellow Cab driver Jack Bruno gets two unusual passengers, Sara (Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig).
The extraterrestrial pair is being pursued by an alien with dark intentions and a clandestine U.S. government outfit, headed by Burke, a determined villain portrayed by Ciarán Hinds, the Irish actor of the fabulous craggy mug.
Played gamely by Dwayne Johnson, Jack Bruno has troubles of his own. He’s being harassed by the mobbed-up guys who got him thrown into prison.
Johnson makes a rock-solid if reluctant hero with a conscience and a rich appreciation of the ironic “Don’t go into the pimped-out fridge,” he tells himself. Then he does.
Carla Gugino plays mildly marginalized astrophysicist Alex Friedman. We first meet her as she heads off to address a convention of sci-fi geeks.
Although “Race to Witch Mountain” is about space travelers, little soars here. The film is so by-the-book (and we don’t mean Key’s 1968 novel) that it’s hard to recount it without reverting to blahblahblah.
“Race to Witch Mountain”
Directed by Andy Fickman, the film feels suspiciously like an action-flick primer: See fistfights. Watch car chases. Witness head-bashes and shots fired. There is even a consequence-free explosion.
Maybe this satisfies immediate popcorn urges. But don’t young audiences deserve better?
Directed by Andy Fickman; written by Matt Lopez and Mark Bomback; from the book by Alexander Key; photography by Greg Gardiner; starring Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Carla Gugino, Ciarán Hinds, Tom Everett Scott. PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements. 1 hour, 39 minutes. Opens today at area theaters.
