RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN
Headline: ** The Race Is On! **
Title: RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN
Quality: * * * * Acceptability: +1
SUBTITLES: None
WARNING CODES:
Language: None
Violence: VV
Sex: None
Nudity: None
RATING: PG
RELEASE: March 13, 2009
TIME: 94 minutes
STARRING: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Ciaran Hinds, Garry Marshall, Tom Everett Scott, Christopher Marquette, Billy Brown, and Cheech Marin
DIRECTOR: Andy Fickman
PRODUCER: Amy Stenftnagel
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Ann Marie Sanderlin and Mario Iscovich
WRITERS: Matt Lopez and Mark Bomback
BASED ON: The book by Alexander Key, "Escape to Witch Mountain," and the original Disney movies "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Return from Witch Mountain"
DISTRIBUTOR: Walt Disney Pictures
CONTENT: (BB, C, VV, M) Strong moral and biblical worldview with redemptive elements where characters are willing to put their lives at risk for the sake of others and alien children with special powers will not save their own planet at the expense of life on Earth, plus one character says fate and luck have nothing to do with their circumstances but rather there is a predetermined order of how things work in the universe and aliens have special powers because they have learned to use their "full brain capacity," which is made into a joke about the heroic earthling who helps them; no obscenities or profanities; light action violence consisting of fist fights and brief brawls, high speed car chases, car crashes, men wield guns, spaceship shoots lasers at car, alien shoots laser guns at people, men fire guns but no one gets hurt, alien girl makes cars blow up but no one is in the cars, alien boy stops a suburban by standing in front of it while it crashes into him but he is not hurt, woman slaps man, alien children get shot with tranquilizers, man fights alien, alien dies by being thrown into the power source of the spaceship; no sexual content; no nudity; no alcohol use; no smoking or drug use; and, alien kids steal clothes and money in the beginning so they can get to where they need to go, bad alien has a scary face, people are dressed up in freakish costumes for the UFO Space Expo taking place during the movie, and people are gambling in the background of a couple scenes since the movie is, for the most part, shot is Las Vegas.
GENRE: Science Fiction
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Older children to adults
Please address your comments to:
Robert Iger, President/CEO
The Walt Disney Company
(Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax Films, and Buena Vista Distribution)
Dick Cook, Chairman
The Walt Disney Studios
500 South Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
Phone: (818) 560-1000
Website: www.disney.com
SUMMARY: RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN is an exciting, fast-paced science fiction adventure about two alien teenagers with extraordinary abilities and a down-and-out cab driver, who must depend on each other to save two worlds. This Disney remake is well produced, directed and acted, with exciting special effects and a well-crafted plot, and contains moral worldview with redemptive elements, but there is much action violence requiring caution for younger children.
IN BRIEF:
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN begins with the crash landing of a spaceship in Nevada and an introduction to the government agents intent on tracking down the ship's owners. The two alien teenagers, Seth and Sara, played superbly by Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb, enlist the help of reluctant, hardened taxicab driver Jack Bruno, played by Dwayne Johnson. The mission? To save their dying planet by recovering valuable research left by previous alien visitors and returning to their planet. Should they fail in retrieving the information, an alien invasion will be launched against Earth.
RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN is well produced, directed and acted. The special effects create believable action sequences that keep audiences entertained and wanting more. The screenplay is tightly written so the story unfolds piece by piece without any plot holes or unanswered questions. The actors do an enjoyable job of bringing their characters to life. Not only is the movie entertaining and exciting, it also contains many heartfelt moments between the characters as they learn to trust and depend on one another. RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN contains little objectionable content, but some intense action requires caution for younger children.
