Race To Witch Mountain (2009)

Do you want to know if the government is watching your every move? I do. This Disney movie revolves around the activities of the state regarding alien invasions and the presence of UFOs in our solar system. It is a sequel to a 1975 film Escape To Witch Mountain. Considering the time span, I would say that the studio was intent on bringing a movie back from the past for a newer generation who has heard nothing about it.

So we start off after the Disney logo, and anyone who is prone to epilepsy must shield their eyes. And to think that I would actually believe that the state would share delicate information regarding UFOs to the citizens. I can't even be sure newspapers would be capable of circulating sensitive information without intervention from the state. After that montage of government activity, we are taken to Las Vegas, where a sci-fi convention coincidentally takes place. You know, it is extremely convenient that a spaceship crash-lands near this very city where and when the alien convention is held.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays the main character, Jack Bruno, who is caught in the web of this mayhem. A former driver to a crime boss, he wants nothing more to do with the underworld yet the goons harass him in broad daylight. You know, I have reviewed several movies, and if there is a black SUV whoever is in it is up to no good. Yet somehow the police does not even smell a rat. Consider that this is a subplot that disappears even before it evolves.

Jack is a taxi driver, who accidentally finds himself picking a pair of teenagers. However, it becomes evident that these two are not really teens but aliens. Aliens with a personality of an AI and no human emotions, yet their names are Seth and Sarah. This does sound odd that they were well-prepared to acquire human names before encountering this driver in particular. I wouldn't even think of it as impulsive. And please, don't just keep on calling the guy "Jack Bruno" repeatedly; just call him "Jack".

Jack is narrow-minded; clearly not a sci-fi fan. He has no idea of how aliens can resemble any form except 'green with antennae'. I just think that he dismisses proof that comes to him even if he saw for himself their capabilities, which no human possesses. On the other hand, the aliens are equipped with philosophical exposition, which I think would define any person who has had a mediocre and unsavory life in the crime world since the age of sixteen. This is his calling for a better life where he is not involved in crime, even though his record stands as leverage.

There are some effects in this movie that are meant to be spectacular, but eventually the CGI would render this scene obviously fake. I remember the highway chase from The Matrix: Reloaded (2003) where an agent crushed a car and flipped it. This particular shot here was meant to be as impressive but is just more like a hit-and-miss. If that is not enough, the aliens are just like the X-Men characters, whose abilities comprise of inertia, telepathy and telekinesis.

There are plenty of characters drawn along the escapade. They serve only little to no purpose to this overall story except to provide comic relief. They add nothing else to the story and fade away into oblivion. There are some characters who are mentioned and never shown, thus begging the question whether there was any point of mentioning their names in the first place.

There is one adversary who has been assigned to target Seth and Sarah. Do I have to mention that he pays homage to either of The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Predator (1987)? He has been sent to destroy what the alien teens came to earth for: a biological sample to restore their heavily polluted planet. The mercenary almost resembles a combination of Spawn and Predator himself. I can be sure that this movie pays homage or rips off several past sci-fi movies that made their fame in cinema history, and encapsulated them for a child-friendly audience.

This movie is packed with action, even if you have already seen it in previous films but are intended for a younger audience who has never heard yet alone watched such titles. There are a few characters to care about while there are others to be dismissed like vapors. Being based on a book I would see this as a moderate success for those who have not read the book itself. Dwayne Johnson is one for action but not so likable in other aspect of the movie, especially in chemistry and dialogue.