Race to Witch Mountain (PG)

Released: 2009

MPAA rating: PG

Run time: 1:38

I certainly didn't go into this expecting Shakespeare or Scorcese. I figured on a moderately entertaining family adventure with Dwayne Johnson (and, come on, who doesn't love "The Rock"). I could not have been more disappointed. Several Facebook friends have already disagreed, so maybe I just missed something. If it helps my case, my 9-year old daughter got bored as well. After a brief sequence setting up Johnson's character (Jack Bruno, a cab driver who used to drive for the mob), it moves right into the adventure. Two kids (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) appear in his cab and offer him lots of cash for a ride. Against his better judgement, he accepts, finding himself transporting two aliens while being chased by the US Government and his former mob associates. The first half hour contains a ton of action with little to no set up so it becomes a bit too much and with action not grounded in any semblance of a story, it is surprisingly uninteresting. The Feds in pursuit are cookie-cutter characters you have seen in a thousand movies before this one. When they finally settle down a bit to catch you up on what is going on, you find you no longer even care. While Johnson is OK in basically a run-of-the-mill role for him, much of the remaining cast is just bad. Carla Gugino, as a scientist studying the possibility of extra-terrestrial life, is surprisingly bad, as she usually puts up good performances. I guess they just could not rise above the material. The plot is totally ripped off from "E.T." and a character ripped right out of "The Terminator" is thrown in for good measure. As I mentioned earlier, several people disagreed with me, but I just did not enjoy this at all.

Grade: D+

Trailer: