Race to Witch Mountain

As Disney continues to ruthlessly mine its catalog of family features for updated remakes, the 1975 "Escape to Witch Mountain" proves to be a more promising vein than most ("Flubber" or "The Shaggy Dog" anyone?). Dwayne Johnson (aka the artist formerly known as the Rock) takes the driver's seat for this take, playing a hard-knuckle, smart-talking taxi driver in Las Vegas who picks up a pair of oddball teenagers (AnnaSophia Robb and Alexander Ludwig) who turn out to be aliens on the run from government agents. Did it need remaking? Not necessarily, but it's just fine as a slick, big-budget PG ride for modern tweens and teens. Johnson provides amiable muscle and good humor as the loner who becomes protective of the kids, and Carla Gugino is the one clear-headed soul in a Vegas convention of UFO nuts who joins the mission to save the kids and planet.

The supplements are inessential: 23 minutes of deleted scenes with introductions by director Andy Fickman (fine but no lost gems buried in the rubble) and a gag reel. Exclusive to the Blu-ray is an eight-minute featurette with Fickman pointing out the homages to the original film and in-jokes sprinkled through the film. It's worth the time largely to pick out the quite respectable appearances by the now-adult stars of the original film, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.