Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Jack Bruno (played by Dwayne Johnson) is a Las Vegas cab driver trying to break free of his criminal record and live a straight life. So, he puts up with all the usual crazies you’d expect him to come across ferrying passengers around the Strip. One day, his passengers turn out to be Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), a sibling duo who act every bit as strangely as Jack’s other fares. Sara and Seth want a ride to a distant location in the desert, and have a huge wad of cash to make sure that happens.
Jack is not in the habit of asking questions, so he just shrugs and starts driving. Soon, however, it becomes clear that there’s something different about Sara and Seth. They’re being chased by government vehicles, and just when it looks like the cab will be caught, the kids use supernatural powers to facilitate an escape. Jack demands to know what’s going on — and hears an answer he wasn’t ready for. Sara and Seth are aliens from a distant planet whose parents sent them to Earth to collect the results of an experiment that could potentially save their dying race. If the children don’t return with the solution, their government is prepared to invade Earth to ensure survival.
Jack sees all the proof he needs, and decides to help the kids evade both the government pursuers and the Siphon (Tom Woodruff, Jr.) creature intent on destroying them. Unfortunately, the military team led by Maj. Henry Burke (Ciarán Hinds) catches up to Sara and Seth, captures them, and prepares to conduct invasive medical testing on the alien duo.
In a race against time, Jack teams up with UFO expert Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino) to try to rescue the kids and get them back to their spacecraft (hidden at a secret facility inside Witch Mountain) so they can return safely to their home planet.
My Reaction: This being a Disney family film, I wasn’t expecting much out of it. I was just hoping for something that would keep my six-year-old interested and that wouldn’t drag on forever, and Race to Witch Mountain actually scored well on those two points. There were only a couple of places where my son got bored; otherwise, he seemed to enjoy the story and understand enough of it to keep watching.
From an adult perspective, the film was merely ok. The story was “meh”, and the acting was terrible, but at least the plot moved along rather quickly. In particular, some of Dwayne Johnson’s reaction shots were unintentionally funny because of how bad they are (check out his face whenever some debris from an explosion flies towards him).
Overall, Race to Witch Mountain is a decent movie to rent if your choices are limited. It’s suitable for both adults and kids, only requires about 90 minutes of your time, and is sufficiently interesting to hold viewers’ attention for that long. I give it 3 stars out of 5.
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