Critic Watch: Race To Witch Mountain

Dwayne Johnson, formerly known as "The Rock", stars in the Disney movie Race To Witch Mountain. This former pro wrestler has successfully moved from acting in front of a live audience to the big screen. The two are very similar in that both involve a lot of action. Director Andy Fickman uses Johnsons' experience from his wrestling career to create an action-packed movie for a younger audience to enjoy.

Kick Honeycutt from The Hollywood Reporter gave the highest review of an 80 out of 100. He praises the film, describing it as "entertaining with a crafty mixture of action, humor and drama." It should do well to satisfy an audience of all ages. Honeycutt does mention that the story does not always make sense. Like why do two highly intelligent, extraterrestrial children with magical powers need a cabbie to get around? Honeycutt dismisses that fact because there is so much action going on that it doesn't need to make sense.

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the movie a 63 out of 100. He stresses the action aspect of the movie. He says it "is determined to remake every live-action feature." The movie is so upbeat and barely leaves any time for the audience to comprehend what was going on in the previous action scene because a new starts immediately. But even though that the movie may consist of action scene after action scene, you can't help but love the character Johnson plays and as a result enjoy the movie.

A.O. Scott of the The New York Times gave the movie a 50 out of 100. Scott describes the movie as nothing but "noise." Meaning that there are countless action scenes. He compares this current version to the original Escape To Witch Mountain. The older version is described as being more mysterious than this updated modern version. The older versions did not require all the extra "noise." As for Johnsons' acting, it is not considered to be one of the best, however, he is improving. Scott believes that the movie is not mind-blowingly great but rather amusing for the younger viewers.

Joe Morganstern of the Wall Street Journal gave the movie a 40 out of 100. He mentions that when a film like Escape To Witch Mountain is remade into a more modern version, it is generally supposed to get better. Instead, Race To Witch Mountain does nothing to improve upon the story. It is just the same story told within a different time period. It didn't help that Johnsons' acting skills were lacking. Morganstern says that he has potential, however, Johnsons' skills are not up to par. His interections with his co-stars were not smooth. Overall, the filmmakers used Johnsons' name to big in the money.

Justin Berton of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the lowest review of a 25 out of 100. Berton feels that there is just too much action within the movie and no real content. There is really nothing worthwhile about the movie except for the role of one minor character played by Ciaran Hinds. The script was written with Johnson in mind for the role. However, Johnson is not a stand-out kind of actor that makes the movie good.

Basically, this movie is filled to the brim with action and nothing else. Most critics compare this movie with its' older version and most will agree that the older one was better. The only thing Race To Witch Mountain has going for it is the big name hero, Dwayne Johnson, and the many actions scenes that will keep an audience watching just to keep up.