PG • 98 mins • 10 April

Director: Andy Fickman

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig, Ciaran Hinds

Rating:

Like an obsessed UFO believer, Disney just can’t stop going back to the site of a past encounter with aliens. In this case, the studio is revisiting the storyline of 1975’s Escape To Witch Mountain, in which two mysterious children desperately need to reach the titular hill. This time, however, the otherworldly pair is after their missing spaceship, which has been taken to a mysterious government facility. And for this new take on the tale, director Andy Fickman and star Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson have decided to give the concept an overhaul, adding in the now required CGI and a pace thrown into overdrive.

For the most part, it works, leading to a blend of chase film and comedy drama that proves entertaining in fits and spurts. It’s easily anchored by Johnson, who displays his now-trademark blend of charm and muscular action hero chops. The kids, meanwhile, do adequate jobs while showing off some niftily upgraded powers, such as the ability to destroy a car – handy when you’ve got a dangerous, be-weaponed killer creature from your own planet hunting you down.

The effects budget can’t paper over all the plot cracks though – it’s thin stuff and whenever it slows, it starts running in place, seemingly waiting for the next big set-piece to kick in.
Plus, there’s one moment – an exposition-heavy scene set in a secret alien lab in the desert - that looks like it was built and shot in the 1970s, with embarrassingly goofy “pods” and the fakest jungle plants this side of classic Doctor Who. But when it’s all working in sync, Race proves a fun, snappy update to a goofy kiddie cult film.

James White