Browsing around the usual sites this morning I came across another kid-friendly trailer starring “The Rock”. I hadn’t planned on thinking twice about it (as The Game Plan looked like garbage) until something about the title rang a bell in the back of mind. Ah yes, I used to watch Escape to Witch Mountain all the time when I was a kid. I think we wore out the tape actually. Funny enough, I remember barely a thing about it. Still, the title of this new remake got the better of me and I had to click to see how Hollywood has screwed up another childhood favorite.
But then something happened… the trailer actually worked for me. It probably isn’t the most intellectualized movie of all time and it won’t win any major awards or be on my top ten list or anything, but it certainly looks like a lot of fun. Dwayne Johnson always seems to choose crappy movies to be in, but nearly every time he shines in them. Quite often (Be Cool, Walking Tall, etc) he is the only reason the movie is watchable. Plus everything I’ve seen and read about him is that he is one helluva nice guy. But I digress.
If I was of the ages 8-14 (maybe even younger), Race to Witch Mountain looks like a movie that would rock my world. Kids need a great adventure story to wrap themselves up in and parents need something that they can have fun with too and not be rolling their eyes constantly. It’s sci-fi sweetness at a kid friendly level with an actor I enjoy a lot on screen. It appears to have decent acting (the girl from Sleepwalking and Ciarán Hinds) and a lot of fun one liners. I’m sure I’m alone here, but this looks like something that could sweep me back to my younger years; if only for a couple of hours. Check out the trailer below or in HD over here.
I don’t remember the original movie (though I do recall seeing it at some point on the Disney Channel) but I have to agree – something about this trailer works for me. And The Rock, that guy’s got charisma. He doesn’t always pick the best films but he’s always fun to watch (and no, I haven’t seen The Game Plan).
I have enjoyed most every project that The Rock has been a part of, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing The Game Plan with my fiancee and little sister… I will certainly check this out.
And, I concur with Marina – Johnson is very fun to watch, and he has great screen presence.
I wont be seeing this. The Game Plan got on my last nerve. Even that little kid that was in it was horrible. I used to think Dwayne Johnson could be a good actor and I liked him in the more adult drama roles he used to do. But his kid movies are just so dumb. He looks like an idiot onscreen and it’s honestly embarrassing to watch him dumb himself down like he does for his movies. Watching him in anything now is a let down and I’m just giving up on him ever being the great actor I thought he could be. I must say I have no desire at all to see this film. It looks like just another sucky remake of a classic film anyway. Disney just wants Dwayne Johnson to be the new Johnny Depp for them anyway. That’s the only reason they used him.