Project-Blu Race to Witch Mountain, by M. Enois Duarte

Race to Witch Mountain

By: M. Enois Duarte, 8.4.2009

The Movie Itself:
There was once a time when kids were not allowed to watch action movies. Most of them, commonly in the 70s and 80s, starred a big muscular guy or a person playing by his own rules with a potty mouth, who dished out justice in some very nasty, violent ways. Never, if ever rarely, did the genre step a foot below an 'R'-rating or chummy-up its gratuitous violence. Then a popular WWE star came along who not only altered that viewpoint, but also did something no other wrestler had done before: he became a Hollywood star.

Dwayne "don't call me The Rock" Johnson arrived with a screen presence that appealed to a wide audience. The action buff could just as easily be entertained with his tough-guy, kicking-butt attitude as a ten year old could be charmed by his humor and charisma. In Race to Witch Mountain, Johnson turns up the magnetism in a harmless sci-fi adventure that demonstrates his willingness to create pure popcorn entertainment, but not much else.

Jack Bruno (Johnson) is a former felon trying to stay out of trouble and drives a taxi cab around the Las Vegas strip just to make ends-meat. One day, he's commissioned by two teenagers Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) for a ride to a desolate location deep in the desert of Nevada. He soon realizes that the siblings are not your typical teens, as they are pursued by a mysterious government agency in black SUVs and an assassin in a high-tech suit of armor flying a space ship.

When the helpless kids explain they are extraterrestrials on a mission to save Earth, Jack recruits the help of Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino), a failed scientist with theories about the existence of UFOs. Together, the four misfits must travel to a secret government facility in Witch Mountain, where Sara and Seth's spacecraft is being stored. With the hopes of saving the planet, they battle the MiB-esque agency and the alien assassin to send the kids safely back home.

In what is becoming a very unfortunate trend in Hollywood today, this "re-imagining" of Disney's classic Escape to Witch Mountain, itself based on the book by Alexander Key, is not half bad. Very likely, thanks in large part to Mr. Johnson's likeable personality bringing a certain believability to a reformed character, the latest kid-pic is a fairly exciting action flick that never oversteps its PG-boundaries.

With some well-done exposition given to Jack Bruno and Dr. Friedman, the story feels energetic and moves along at speedy pace, as downtime is kept at a minimum and only when necessary. It's a very workmanlike script, assisted by some explosive CGI-effects and nice performances by the cast. Brief appearances by Gary Marshall and Cheech Marin add to the humor, while cameos from Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, from the original Witch Mountain series, offer parents a moment to reminisce.

A few details in the script's logic, such as an advanced civilization governed by militarized mass hysteria rather than science, is easily overlooked in an adventure geared at young teens and children. With Dwayne Johnson driving the action-packed sci-fi feature, Race to Witch Mountain is just enough to maintain interest in both young and old to see it through to the final stretch. Unfortunately, there are no medals to be awarded at the finish line.
Rating: 6/10

The Presentation:
Coming from the studio that's been most consistent with their video presentations, Race to Witch Mountain arrives with some high expectations. While not of top-tier quality, the freshly-minted AVC-encoded transfer, framed at 2.40:1, is still quite impressive with a lovely film-like appearance.

Contrast is pitch-perfect and crisply bright to represent the scorching weather of the Nevada desert. Daylight scenes are vivid and gorgeous as the visibility of far-distant objects is clear and perceptible. Details are distinct and astounding, with warm, natural flesh tones and lifelike textures in various items. The various colors in the palette are striking and nicely saturated, with secondary hues appearing robust and full-bodied. Black levels are true and intense, providing the picture with an appreciable depth of field. Many scenes take place at night and they look terrific, as numerous objects remain distinct and unmistakable. Unfortunately, many interior sequences suffer from spiked grain levels, resulting in a flatter image, and shadows can come off a bit strong. Nonetheless, Disney Studios has released another fine-looking hi-def presentation.
Rating: 8.4/10

Not to be undone by the picture quality of Race to Witch Mountain, the DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack of this sci-fi kid-pic is even more impressive, loaded with plenty of sound effects which fill the room and create plenty of excitement.

Character interaction is well-prioritized and coherent, while the rest of the mix is evenly balanced and transparent. The musical score furnishes the soundstage with a broad and polished dynamic range with decent room penetration. Acoustics exhibit wonderful depth and clarity, allowing some moments of immersion, especially in the third act. Imaging is not wholly convincing though, as discrete effects occupy the rears from time to time and delivered a bit too precisely and easily pinpointed. With so much action on screen, I also expected a little more from the LFE channel. Not that there lacked any, but rather, bass is not very hefty for so many explosions, crashes, and gunfire. Then again, these are small nitpicks in an otherwise active and entertaining lossless track.
Rating: 8.8/10

Overall Presentation: 8/10

** 9 - 10 = Reference / 8 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **

The Extras:
Arriving in a thick and sturdy 3-disc package, Race to Witch Mountain lives up to that old saying, "looks can be deceiving." The second disc is a DVD copy of the film, while the third one is a DisneyFile Digital Copy --- both in standard definition. The rest of the bonus features are rather mediocre, with one lone exclusive to this Blu-ray edition.

Deleted Scenes (SD, 23 min)
A very unexciting collection of scenes removed with good reason and director introductions.
Bloopers (SD, 4 min)
A series of bloopers which are okay to watch.
Which Mountain? (8 min)
Under the "Backstage Disney" banner, director Andy Fickman shows viewers various references made to the original Witch Mountain series.

Rating: 4/10

Final Thoughts:
Although action-packed and exciting for younger viewers, the only thing keeping this CGI-laden sci-fi from crashing head-on into a mountain is the charismatic and entertaining Dwayne Johnson. Race to Witch Mountain is yet another "re-imagining" of a movie many have already forgotten; and while not as bad as so many others in the same category, the movie is still not that good. We've seen better from the studio in the A/V department, but this is far from some of the worst they've released in the past. The supplemental package is rather mediocre, but fans of this latest installment will still be pleased by this Blu-ray edition.
Rating: 6/10