I must admit that I am a huge Disney fan. So as the fireworks went off over Cinderella’s castle and the Disney logo flashed across the bottom of the screen, I caught myself thinking, ‘Maybe this will turn out alright. Sure, its Dwayne Johnson, but these are the same folks that made Finding Nemo. It’s a classic film, why not?’ 

Unfortunately what you’ll find in Race to Witch Mountain is exactly what you’d expect to see in a movie made for the Disney channel, not a major motion picture release. I never saw the original so I can’t speak to the nostalgia effect, but the plot seemed clunky and outdated. There was a massive hole in the script — if these alien children can move things with their mind and block bullets, why do they need ‘The Rock’ to protect them? Not to mention that the presence of extra terrestrials is no longer a novel idea, but Disney did nothing to reinvent these aliens so it ended up looking like a couple conspiracy theorist’s making a YouTube video on the weekend. 

Since I was in the minority as a mid-20s male amongst a sea of parents and giddy young children, I thought perhaps this movie just wasn’t for me; maybe the young people in the theater were enamored with all the talk of spaceships and alien life. But the theater was lifeless throughout the show; kids weren’t excitedly asking their parents questions, they were trying not to doze off like I did for a few minutes. I heard more than a few parents comment on how much violence was in the movie, as Johnson solved nearly every conflict with his fists. 

Bottom line it was a Disney movie through and through. Johnson plays a Las Vegas taxi driver who begrudgingly accepts the responsibility of watching out for alien children Seth and Sara (Alexander Ludwig and Anna Sophia Robb) before getting roped into the conflict of saving Earth. Extraterrestrial life theorist Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino) gets involved and before she and Johnson can save the day they (naturally) fall in love. Everyone makes a pithy comment at some point, several of which are good for a laugh, and there is the requisite haphazard, self-depreciating character that everyone laughs at but feels sorry for. Nobody draws outside the lines of a children’s movie and everyone ends up happy. 

I want to know when “The Rock” became the Nickelodeon poster boy. When he made his transition to film in 2002 as the Scorpion King I thought he was destined to be an action star in the same vain of Sylvester Stallone — somebody who wasn’t talented but looked good kicking ass and could deliver one liners — but since then he has starred in such films as The Game Plan and is slated to appear in Tooth Fairy in 2009. 

Who would have thought his big money contract would be holding Race to With Mountain back from being a successful Disney Channel movie.

--Mark Collins

A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock -- which... A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock, which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union, keeps ticking closer to midnight. While superheroes are all around, they have been outlawed since the 70s with a few that are government sanctioned and still active. When the still active hero, Comedian is murdered, the masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion, a disbanded group of retired superheroes, of which only one has true powers, Rorschach glimpses a disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity...but who is watching the Watchmen?

You waited for it, some longer than others, and now it is finally here. The un-filmable filmed, the un-adaptable adapted. So how is this stupendous superhero adventure with the ubiquitous marketing campaign? Eh, good and bad. Alan Moore created an incredibly effective and influential piece of literature and when asked about seeing Zack Snyder's adaptation Moore said, "I'm never going to watch this fucking thing." And after having seen the movie, I don't really blame him. It's not that the movie is bad--far from it--it's an incredibly faithful adaptation. It's just that Moore clearly put so much effort into his back stories, his character layers, and all the details the book so richly explores, you get somewhat of a cliff notes version in the movie. Snyder has done a fantastic job of recreating Moore's world and characters and, at times, the film is so faithful that it literally looks and sounds like the comic panels are moving in front of you.

But as with any adaptation omissions and changes had to be made, and while the new ending didn't really bother me much--it has the same general idea as the book--it was the left out details that left me feeling let down. There are flashbacks and character explorations but not enough and not to the extent I would have enjoyed. There is so much going on narrative-wise that I feel Snyder shortchanged some of the characters and their relationships, which makes it harder as viewers to connect with them emotionally. I didn't feel a Dreidberg/Laurie connection, it just happened. I never really felt like Laurie cared for the Doc--she just said she did. And because of that, it made the whole impact of the story less resonating.

But that's me nitpicking, because this is a pretty good movie. The Snyder slo-mo bad assenomics are back, and couldn't be more welcome. The action scenes take a break from today's standards of shaky hyper-realistic what-the-fuck-is-going-on editing, and actually shows us a well-orchestrated fights. The production design and visual effects capture the comic almost PERFECTLY, and pretty much all the actors nail their parts. I say pretty much all, because Malin Akerman, while far from the train wreck many critics would have you believe, just doesn't deliver. Who does? Good ol' Patrick Wilson does. Despite a somewhat simplified character, Wilson still managers to grasp hold of Nightowl/Dreidberg and plays him pretty expertly. And Wilson would be the highlight if it weren't for Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffery Dean Morgan. Haley absolutely drills each and every thing about Rorschach, from the voice, to the movements, to the stilted dialogue delivery. The man was clearly a fan and most definitely proved his Oscar nomination was no fluke--he is Rorschach. The same could almost be said about Morgan who delivers an extremely strong performance as The Comedian. He's good, he looks the part, and he takes the character who does despicable things and makes you like him in spite of it.

After all is said and done is the un-filmable unwatchable? I wouldn't say so. While the middle is a bit clunky, and the plot can get a bit murky, I feel it is a rewarding experience for both the Watchmen fanatics and uninitiated alike. But if you're completely unfamiliar with this world, don't go in expecting a wham bam action jam, because these characters and this story are far more than that. Who's watching the Watchmen? It seems like everyone, but if you really want to love and appreciate this story, you really should be reading them.

--Greg MacLennan