'...I'm so starstruck, baby, could you blow my heart up...?'

[marguerite_krux]

Saw Race to Witch Mountain on the weekend with Netty. *wriggles* Thoroughly enjoyed it and I am totally getting it on dvd- or making someone buy it for me. :D

I'm not even pretending it has award-winning merit of any kind, but who cares? The movies that win Oscars are generally weepy and tragic and involve people suffering hardship and loss and characters DYING.

This? Was just a lot of fun, kept me giggling throughout and is exactly my kind of favorite light-hearted popcorn entertainment.

 

I was a little nervous for it at the start. I was hoping like crazy that they wouldn't go overkill on the stereotypes, there have been a lot of movies where they push the cliche so far it just ruins my enjoyment of the show.

But the characters weren't OTT, I mean, the main baddie- Burke?- was all villainy and smug and malevolent without being cartoony, it was just nicely understated. That was the case with most of the cast, so I was happy.

The kids were a little wooden at the start, but I think that was part of the character, lol, and it was nice to see them loosen up a little as the movie progressed. AnnaSophia Robb, as Sara, strongly reminded me of Teyla for some reason! The whole 'alien chick with muted sarcasm politely enduring irrational human behavior' attitude was very reminiscent of Teyla, and amused me throughout the movie. Alexander Ludwig was a little one-note in comparison but come on, this isn't the movie you go to for startling levels of character nuance, so I'm giving him a pass on that.

Like the reviews said, it never made sense to me that these kids needed Jack. I mean, they broke into the car just fine and Sara takes over driving it remotely with her mind powers on many occasions, so the taxi driver is a little superfluous, right? STILL, The Rock was hilarious. I really really loved that scene where Sara demonstrated her telekinesis and is all matter-of-fact, 'You do not do this because you have not learnt how to access your full brain capacity' or whatever and his voice gets higher and higher, 'No, we don't do this because it's creepy and I'd really like you to stop it right now'. HEE.

I was ranting throughout that it was stupid they kept going in the taxi. The kids withdrew $15,000 in cash from an ATM, why couldn't they use these skills to buy a new car instead of getting some random mechanic to fix Jack's totally trashed, near-useless, potentially dangerously wrecked taxi? Considering that the government agents AND the assassin knew his license plate and could track the vehicle, it was stupid that he constantly drove them around in it.

BUT that was all forgiven in a key scene where the trio pick up Alex and take off in her colleague's car while he distracted everyone by going off in the taxi, leading the agents on a wild goose chase. That was so cool and it completely excused the previous moronic lack of changing cars. It set up a pattern of behavior that threw the guys off their trail, heh.

The assassin has to be the most inept, slack-ass terminator EVER. I mean, he repeatedly fires at the car but is incapable of leaving more than a dent? I mean, he firebombed the building and the bridge, leaving chaos and destruction in his wake, turning the sky red and ash falling in conditions of freakish climate change BUT THE CAR SURVIVES RELATIVELY INTACT. SERIOUSLY. WTF.

But he amused me because whenever I saw him, I kept thinking of Vala in supersoldier gear in Prometheus Unbound, hitting on Daniel and totally freaking him out! Hysterical! I love those two. So yeah, the positive association helped temper my irritation at his idiocy. It's a rule on tv that unfairly powerful antagonists must always hurl the hero around and bounce him from wall to wall instead of just calmly and efficiently snapping his neck. Jack should've died at least half a dozen times in this movie, but the terminator kept sacrificing expediency for irrational brawling. Does. Not. Compute. This was very reminscent of the super!Replicator bashing Cam Mitchell around in Ark of Truth. Just as pointless. If I'm ever in a position to eliminate an enemy, you bet I'd get it done quickly and efficiently instead of wasting time toying with them. *eyeroll*

And the best part of the movie...CARLA! ♥ *FLAILYFLAILFLAIL* I absolutely adored her in this- she was sarcastic and witty, she was geeky and cute, she was kick-ass and proficient...GUH. *swoons* JUST COMPLETE AND UTTER LOVE, YO. I'm so happy that she ended up playing a major part in the movie- because she wasn't in the ads at all which is why I hadn't realized she was in it til a few weeks back. And she ended up dominating it, in my [biased] eyes anyway, lol.

I loved her interaction with Jack, where she was sweetly, quietly mocking him. I mean, they're in a giant empty lecture room and he wants to go somewhere private to talk? Lol, the way she paid him and herself out at the same time, GOD, I love this woman.

I don't get why the reviews say that she wasn't relevant to the plot and it was all contrived- I mean, without her 'friends' to mislead the guys following them and to provide maps and directions and info about the complex they were trying to break into, the plo wouldn't have moved forward. She was SO vital, whatever. *sticks out tongue childishly*

I was uber-frustrated with Alex when she seemed to doubt Jack and got all pissy and shrill with him- then when she slapped him, I was like, hang on a sec...and sure enough, it was all a ploy on her part to distract the guards and then take them out. WIN. I loved her before but this cemented it. I always get angry with characters when they misunderstand each other's motives and don't realize when someone's bluffing but she not only saw that- in a guy she's known for less than a day!- but enabled his plan by acting up like she did. Mwahahaha!

That scene where she clears all the scientists out of the hangar bay, pretending to be in authority and facing down one arrogant jerk before kicking them all out, so she and the others can get to the ship! Priceless! *bounces*

You know what's odd? In this movie and also The Day the Earth Stood Still, they always make HUMANS the bad guys. I mean, the military is always trying to destroy the 'good' aliens that want to help save humanity. In a darker movie, we might explore how the seemingly good aliens were actually manipulating their human allies and end up betraying them and killing everyone- but thankfully, this is NOT that movie. I'll keep my fluff and humor, kthxbai.

There were two main criticisms I could make, but they're balanced by other positive elements:

* I wish Jack had been a little more proactive and picked up a gun to fire back at all the people trying to kill them. His entire purpose is to babysit and protect the kids but he mainly seems to duck and weave and run like hell. Then again, it could've descended into blood and guts and gore, which I'm not a fan of, so in the end, I'm okay with the level of violence they went with, after all. It's a kids movie and I guess they want to have a hero that DOESN'T blast the crap out of everyone.

* I'm in love with love, so a bit more romance would've been nice; otoh, it's rarely well handled in movies like this and I'd rather see Alex and Jack partnering up to help save the day and take out baddies and save lives than for a cringeworthy scene where they're alone together for a second and all of a sudden, they're frakking like oversexed teens. Can't stand that particular cliche, ugh.

I just adore the happy ending! [I thought it was funny when Sara asked Jack to promise her something- the cues pointed to a huge sappy moment and instead it was a request to look after the dog, Junkyard [?] for her! Ha!] I'm a sucker for things working out neatly and everyone living happily ever after! I don't care how unrealistic it may be or how many plot holes are created in the process, I'm glad the kids managed to get what they came for and save Earth in the process, and that Alex and Jack drove off into the sunset together. :D

@ chibi_tenshi24 - you totally need to see this movie. I loved it, 'tis awesome, YOU MUST WATCH. ^_^

Comments

[sapphs.livejournal.com]

I downloaded it a few weeks ago and was entertained. I wasn't expecting anything deep. It was a kid's movie FCOL and like you said it was just fun. I loved the geeky!Alex! Reminded me of all the fangirls I've met (although we'd act way cooler if we met an alien. Or maybe not... Heh.)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Ack, you and your d/l skillz! *envies* Well, I had a free ticket so it was worth going to the movies and seeing Carla on the big screen. *bounces*

Lol, I TOTALLY thought of fellow fangirls when she was babbling on about aliens and all, it was so very cute- but yes, we would be so much more calm and matter-of-fact if we ever met extra-terrestrial beings, I'm sure. Like, when the Rock was freaking out at Sara levitating stuff? I just wanted to thwack him- 'this is an awesome moment in human history, dude, try to be cooler!'