REVIEW: Race to Witch Mountain (Cert PG)
SOME of the parents accompanying their offspring to Race to Witch Mountain (Cert PG) may remember the original Seventies Disney adventures about two alien children trying to get back to their crashed spaceship, Escape to Witch Mountain and its sequel Return to.
Whether this "re-imagining" in the days of CGI effects is an improvement is dubious, but on its own terms it's an engaging enough Easter holiday diversion.
It is held together by the personable presence of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as the good-hearted Las Vegas taxi driver who picks up a couple of ordinary-looking kids and finds himself drawn into an extraordinary adventure as the pair (Anna Sophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) demonstrate their extraterrestrial powers.
There's fun to be had with the aliens' stilted manner as they attempt to pass themselves off as humans and later when they all fetch up at a UFO convention being pursued by an alien monster and menacing government officials, led by grim-faced man in black Ciaran Hinds, which the delegates assume is part of the show.
There's also a scene in a diner where our heroes are able to escape with the help of a friendly waitress and an officious sheriff – cameos for the pair who played the children in the original film, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.
The comedy probably works better than the action – there doesn't seem much logic to the efficacy of alien superpowers versus US military might versus The Rock's brawn, but it's still passable escapist entertainment.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
