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Race to Witch Mountain (2009) 5.7
Ratings:
5.7/10 from 27,122 users
Metascore: 52/100
Reviews: 104 user | 164 critic | 28 from Metacritic.com A Las Vegas cabbie enlists the help of a UFO expert to protect two siblings with paranormal powers from the clutches of an organization that wants to use the kids for their nefarious plans. Director:Andy Fickman |
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Dwayne Johnson | ... | ||
| AnnaSophia Robb | ... | ||
| Alexander Ludwig | ... | ||
| Carla Gugino | ... | ||
| Ciarán Hinds | ... | ||
| Tom Everett Scott | ... | ||
| Chris Marquette | ... | ||
| Billy Brown | ... | ||
| Garry Marshall | ... | ||
| Kim Richards | ... | ||
| Ike Eisenmann | ... | ||
| Tom Woodruff Jr. | ... | ||
 |
John Duff | ... | |
| Bob Koherr | ... | ||
|
|
Kevin Christy | ... | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
In Las Vegas, the regenerated ex-con Jack Bruno works as taxi driver. During an UFO Convention at Planet Hollywood, the skeptical Jack picks up Dr. Alex Friedman, who will present a scientific lecture in the event. Then he is pressed by two henchmen of his former boss, the criminal Wolff, that wants to talk to him, but Jack does not want to return to the crime life. Jack fights and gets rid of them; out of the blue, he finds two teenagers on the backseat of his cab. They tell that they are siblings, Sara and Seth, and they need to travel to a location outside Las Vegas in the middle of nowhere. Meanwhile the government finds a spacecraft that crashed nearby Las Vegas and is chasing the two aliens; after the investigation of the men of Major Henry Burke, they discover that the two siblings are the aliens. Jack Bruno, Sara and Seth are chased by Henry Burke's team and by the "Syphon", a killer from outer space that has been sent to kill them by the military of their planet that want to ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Taglines:
The Race Is OnMotion Picture Rating (MPAA)
Rated PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements | See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
13 March 2009 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Witch Mountain See more »Filming Locations:
Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino - 3667 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA See more »Box Office
Budget:
$65,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
£581,250 (UK) (10 April 2009)Gross:
£2,545,316 (UK) (24 July 2009)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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Dr. Alex Friedman: What happened to laying low?
Jack Bruno: Who lays low in Vegas?
See more »
Written by Juan Zambrana
Performed by Sonic Quiver
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Meredith Salenger plays Natalie Gann in this movie. She also played the lead in The Journey of Natty Gann when she was a child. See more »Goofs
At the table scene in the restaurant, during a short conversation between Jack and the kids, food and drinks appear on the table, without being served. See more »Quotes
Jack Bruno: [Rushing out of the gambling area] Gotta go!Dr. Alex Friedman: What happened to laying low?
Jack Bruno: Who lays low in Vegas?
See more »
Crazy Credits
In the beginning of the movie the camera view changes from the Walt Disney "Castle" to the stars and the Castle gets dark and changes the silhouette of the "Witch Mountain" See more »Soundtracks
"Perdoname"Written by Juan Zambrana
Performed by Sonic Quiver
Courtesy of 5 Alarm Music
See more »
Dwayne Johnson plays Jack Bruno, Las Vegas cabbie, and Carla Gugino is Dr. Alex Friedman, UFO expert. Perhaps you saw the preview in which Bruno and Friedman are crawling thru a tubular tunnel and she admits to a bit of claustrophobia. Just then Bruno reaches an opening into a deep vertical shaft and asks "How are you with heights?". It was a good scene, with a bit of low-key but contextually appropriate humor that the former Rock has learned to deliver effectively, making him a big, strapping brute of a guy that you feel comfortable with. But that scene isn't in the film itself. Instead, we see the aftermath, in which Friedman is still a bit freaked out, for no apparent reason.
The rest of the movie was like that, too. People seemed to be doing things with no credible motives. The 2 adults flee from no fewer than 4 sets of pursuers exhibiting varying degrees of hostility (The Government, a space-alien cross between Predator and Inspector Javert, Bruno's former mob boss Mr. Wolf and his henchthugs, and the LVPD). They do so to protect 2 teenage Swedish, I mean space, aliens who are here to retrieve the mcguffin, um, recording device that will prevent their planet from launching a hostile takeover, uh, invasion. The gal of the pair, Sara, is played by AnnaSophia Robb. We know from her performance in Bridge to Terabithia (2007, 9*) that she can be a tremendously appealing young actress, but here she gets to do stuff like pointing her finger and monotonically saying "Go that way, Jack Bruno.". The boy, Seth, is played by Alexander Ludwig, a cipher.
The government's head alien tracker warns Bruno that the kids are not what they seem to be. Anyone who's ever seen a science-fiction movie (which apparently includes precisely zero of any characters who are actually IN an SF movie) can only begin to imagine what might lurk beneath those placid blond exteriors, but this proves singularly untroubling for Bruno, leading right up to the snuggle-bunny ending (Disney, y'know), which was likewise not well set up by any of the preceding events.
The scenes set at a UFO convention make good sport of fannish stereotypes, which some people might find offensive but I choose to treat as endearing. And I loved the sly humor that they DID leave in the script, wherein Bruno asks the kids at the controls of the flying saucer "Do you know how to fly this thing?", they respond "How do you think we got here?", and he replies "Well, you crashed!". More of that, from another couple of passes thru the typer, would have earned this one an upgrade.
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*Best SF&F film of the 21st Century so far, IMHO