If you grew up in the 1970s, chances are you saw “Escape to Witch Mountain,” and perhaps its sequel, “Return from Witch Mountain.” The first film, based on a science fiction novel by Alexander H. Key, became a cult classic and one of Disney’s most popular films of the 70s.
“Race to Witch Mountain” is an attempt to reboot the franchise. The new film stars AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig as Sara and Seth, the extraterrestrial twins on the run.
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One of the charms of the original movie is that Tony and Tia, the twins with paranormal abilities, have amnesia and don’t know their origins. The twins feel isolated and don’t know who to trust, a feeling common to pre-teens and teenagers alike. While on the run from a ruthless millionaire, trying to learn the secrets of a map in Tia’s “star box,” they realize they are extraterrestrial.
In the new film, the twins are completely aware of who they are. Landing just outside of Las Vegas, they escape a government agency led by Major Henry Burke and befriend a cab driver, Jack Bruno, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Bruno finds the twins in the back of his cab, and, after the two show him a great deal of money, agrees to take them on a long fare outside the city.
While en route to their destination, the trio is pursued by Burke and his goons, and it is during the chase that the twins’ abilities first manifest. The twins are also being pursued by an extraterrestrial assassin known as the Siphon, who first catches up with the three in an empty house far out in the desert. During the ensuing fight scene, Bruno learns the twins are aliens.
Without the mystery surrounding the twins’ origins, this semi-remake is little more than an action-adventure movie, albeit one with nice touches. The twins and Bruno stop in Stony Creek, and there the original Tony and Tia, played so well by Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards, make cameos as a sheriff and waitress who aid them in escaping from Burke.
The trio eventually enlists the aid of a scientist, Dr. Alex Friedman, played by Carla Gugino, to help them find the twins’ ship, which they learn Burke has stashed at Witch Mountain, so they can return home and prevent the military branch of the twins’ homeworld from invading and conquering Earth.
While the plot offers nothing new and the villains are little more than cardboard caricatures, the movie zips along at a frantic pace and keeps the viewer engaged. Not as charming as the original, “Race to Witch Mountain” is still a fun ride and worth seeing.
