Race To Witch Mountain: Fun trailer + Neat Poster = Good Movie?

'Race to Witch Mountain' Theatrical Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Call me crazy, but this Disney family adventure actually looks kinda fun. First of all, Dwayne Johnson is perfect for this kind of thing. He's too good-natured and jolly to be playing R-rated bad-asses, but he does the 'gee-whiz I hope we don't die' shtick better than anyone outside of Brendan Frasier. The man who used to be The Rock has always been a terrifically engaging screen presence (and a terrific interview), but only Peter Berg's The Rundown has really allowed him to really break out (terrific adventure film, by the way... I can't imagine why it never caught on as a DVD cult film).

The poster looks more exciting than any of the last half dozen James Bond posters, and this goofy trailer actually has me hoping its good enough to drag my daughter to on a lazy Sunday afternoon. By the way, the kid stars are AnnaSophia Robb (Violet in the recent Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and happy birthday by the way) and Alexander Ludwig (I'm sure tears-inducing adaptation of The Dark Is Rising wasn't his fault). Point being, the plot looks fun, the production values seem high, and Dwayne Johnson is completely suited to anchoring this Disney fluff with just the right amount of grouchy sentiment. This might be just the perfect double bill for a second viewing of Watchmen (or the perfect guilty pleasure if Watchmen ends up being lousy - ala Blade one week after the heartbreaking collapse of The Avengers in August 1998). Plus, Johnson's last line in the trailer actually made me laugh out loud.

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Comments

[Brent Cox]

This movie looks awful. As one who loved the original two movies when I was a kid, I'm disappointed to see such a poor handling of an idea that had great potential. It looks like a typical Disney vehicle for selling product placement, fast food tie-ins and theme park rides.

[RachelSklar]

I loved these books when I was a kid - smart of Disney to dust off this franchise and bring it up to speed. And I agree with you about "The Rundown" - superfun flick with Seann William Scott as a great comic foil. I have actually wondered myself why it never gained traction. This one looks awesome. Superhero kids rule.

[sisterdebmac]

You loved "these books"? Maybe you mean you loved these "movies"? This was no Harry Potter series of books. The original Disney charmer from 1975 is based on one book, a rather dour and dark drama by Alexander Key, Escape To Witch Mountain. A book which I maintain is unfilmable as a Disney adventure, because it's simply too serious. They made a sequel to the hit film in 1977, Return From Witch Mountain. As much as I loved those movies as a kid, and those characters and actors, the sequel was pretty flimsy. Fun, but ultimately too silly. Key wrote a rather heartfelt novelization of the second film, but that's not the same as a an original novel by any stretch of the imagination. That's it for "these books".

As a huge fan (ok, obsessive) of the original films, I was pretty disgusted when Disney twice tried and failed to resurrect the Witch Mountain mythology, once in the 80's and once in the 90's. Both attempts were abysmal.

This movie is a brand new animal. Yeah, it's going to be a Rock-centered action adventure. But it's so much more. Director, Andy Fickman, born in Roswell, NM, is a UFO buff, so he has brought that element into it with appearances by Whitley Strieber and Bil Birnes. In a post millennial world, this will be a much wiser, darker, scarier and cooler Witch Mountain than we've ever seen before.

My prediction? It'll rock. No pun...