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When is a classic not a classic? When it’s a throwaway
Disney live action movie from the 70’s. The original “Escape
to Witch Mountain” was corny, contrived and not very good.
Revisiting the story allows Disney to update it but the
big question is did they get it right this time? It’s a
bit early to say but “Race to Witch Mountain” based on the
novel by Alexander Key like the original film differs from
“Escape” in a significant way—we know that these kids aren’t
human from the get go. In the original film this fact remained
a key plot element that drove the mystery to its conclusion.
The other big difference is the character of Jack Bruno
(Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who literally finds himself
“driven” to help the kids (Alexander Ludwig and Anna Sophia
Robb) when they mysteriously appear in his cab. They have
a mission and sort of a plan. “The Rock” dominates the movie
and, quite frankly, almost everything good about this movie
is due to his charming and amusing performance. ***
Although “Race” does “Escape” the limitations of the
latter film and isn’t hobbled by the limited visual effects,
it also doesn’t quite rise to the potential of the novel
itself. I hate comparing novels to films for a lot of reasons
but there are a lot of plot elements that could have easily
been incorporated into the film. The writing remains pedestrian
and the direction although quite effective remains hobbled
by a script with underwritten roles and clichéd situations.
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Image & Sound:
“Race” looks quite good with a strong Blu-ray transfer
with a crisp, sharp transfer filled with strong colors and
natural skin tones. The transfer has nice depth as well
although it isn’t quite up to the standards of the best
BD transfers out there. ***
Audio sounds extremely good with a nice presence and
a DTS HD 5.1 mix that will immerse you in the action. Dialogue
remains strong even in action sequences and we get subtitles
in multiple langagues. ---
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