~by Dena Burroughs

Race to Witch Mountain - Movie review

   If aliens from another galaxy came to Earth and needed you, would you help them?  What if they looked like innocent, lost teenagers?  Would it help if they gave you a wad of cash they'd pulled out of an ATM without even needing a card?

   Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, playing cab driver Jack Bruno does - albeit a bit reluctantly - in Race to Witch Mountain, the Disney movie opening Friday, March 13.  Annasophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig are Sara and Seth, two teens with supernatural powers - they can lift things with their mind, read other people's thoughts, move through matter's molecules, and other cool stuff like it.  They are on Earth with a mission, only in the midst of it, the U.S. government takes their ship for investigation to a secret place in Nevada called Witch Mountain. 

   Getting back to their ship, and to their planet, is the race they are forced to take on, assisted by Jack Bruno and by Dr. Alex Friedman, an astrophysicist played by Carla Gugino.

   Of Latin interest, Cheech Marin shows up for a few scenes as the mechanic that works on Jack Bruno's beat up cab.  There is no Salsa music in this one, only a bit of Country.

   While the movie is probably not Oscar material, it is fun to watch.  The film has a nice mix of sci-fi and action that is a hit with the younger crowd, and, for the mothers, well, there are always "The Rock"'s arms.

Rated PG. Running time 1 hour 39 minutes. Released by Walt Disney Pictures.

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/RacetoWitchMountain/