Science Fiction and Fantasy as reviewed in Think Magazine

Late in Race to Witch Mountain, Carla Gugino, playing a UFO obsessed astrophysicist, proclaims "What are the chances of two aliens landing in Las Vegas during the UFO Convention, and they happen to get in your cab a day before I was in your cab? This isn't a coincidence, it's fate."

Actually Carlo, it's not fate, it's a generic writing plot device which conveniently gathers all the characters in one spot so the back stories wouldn't take up too much time away from the nonstop barrage of car chases and toned down action scenes...

This Disney remake, or "reimagination" (the most overused term in Hollywood these days) of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain, begins when two aliens drop in on earth and need grumpy cab driver Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) to take them to a mysterious place in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Through a few contrived plot devices, the trio ends up being chased by the US government, an alien assassin (who resembles the Predator), and Vegas mobsters whom Bruno has former ties to.

Johnson - or The Rock if you prefer - has a comic timing that's solid and there are a few laugh out loud moments.

Unfortunately, Director Fickman has thrown in so many car chases and action scenes into the film that it becomes an endless string of watered down Disney action set pieces.

For example, one scene had a train explode, followed by a news report casually explaining that the train carried no passengers and the driver survived. The entire audience rolled their eyes.

Disney animation? Brilliant.

Disney family comedies? Heartwarming.

Disney action adventures? Oxymoron.

Category: Alien Invasion

Written by Ben Sims

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