FILMS

'Witch Mountain' highlights dignity of life

Reviewed by Rebecca Bostic | March 19, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Appearances are often deceiving, as the title and main characters of Walt Disney Pictures’ latest film “Race to Witch Mountain” prove.

The film has nothing to do with witches, but instead focuses on aberrations of a different nature — extraterrestrial. Two young teenage aliens embody two American teenagers, fleeing from the government as they try to save the planet Earth.

“Race to Witch Mountain” is a mediocre film that most children will immensely enjoy. Although there is a relatively high level of violence for a children’s film, “Race to Witch Mountain” is not graphic and the violence involved in the midst of the film’s special effects is not fatal.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars as Jack Bruno, a Las Vegas cab driver trying to stay on a path of redemption after spending time in jail. When the two alien children, Seth and Sara — played by Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb, respectively — ask to be driven to the desert, he complies.

Jack ends up involved in a situation beyond his understanding as he battles the Siphon — a bounty hunter-like alien warrior sent to stop Seth and Sara from completing their mission — and runs from the U.S. government, which is trying to catch the aliens to run scientific experiments. The young aliens need to return to their ship, which the government took to a secret area in the desert called Witch Mountain. Jack eventually commits to helping the alien children return to their ship so they can save Earth from destruction.

“Race to Witch Mountain” has a number of positive messages about trusting the good in people, never abandoning people in need of assistance and the perpetual possibility of redemption. The film is fluffy and lacks strong dialogue and interesting character development.

Johnson is given a handful of hokey punch lines that he executes with reasonable success. Overall the film is cute but predictable.

Some within the Catholic Church are comfortable with the concept of extraterrestrial life. As recently as 2008, Jesuit Father Gabriel Funes, the director of the Vatican Observatory, said that extraterrestrial life was well within the possibility of God’s imaginative creation.

“As a multiplicity of creatures exist on earth, so there could be other beings, also intelligent, created by God,” Fr. Funes said in an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.

“This does not contrast with our faith because we cannot put limits on the creative freedom of God,” he said. “To say it with St. Francis, if we consider earthly creatures as ‘brother’ and ‘sister,’ why cannot we also speak of an ‘extraterrestrial brother?’ It would therefore be a part of creation.”

“Race to Witch Mountain” is an apt illustration of Funes’ proposed relationship with extraterrestrial beings. They are treated as science projects by the government, which is villianized for its lack of respect toward the creatures. The film highlights the human and emotive aspects of the featured extraterrestrial beings and promotes a respect for life in all forms.

“Race to Witch Mountain” may open the minds of young children to respecting all levels of God’s creation, including those that might not exist. It’s generally a fun ride with interesting special effects and a few entertaining punch lines.

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Media critic Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.