DVD OF THE WEEK

RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN ****
Dir: Andy Fickman Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Ciaran Hinds, Carla Gugino

It has obviously been a quiet couple of weeks on the DVD front as I would never have imagined making this film a 'Pick of the Week”. Having said that it – unlike this week's other action films – does exactly what it says on the box and is a bunch of fun, even if it is aimed (mainly) at kids.
The film is a remake of a seventies Disney movie and has been spruced up with some impressive CGI and a sleek new stripped-down plot. In the 2009 version two kids from another planet end up in a taxi driven by still-budding action hero Dwayne 'The Rock” Johnson (though he seems to have officially dropped 'The Rock” bit). Much in the manner of the Transformers films they have to take a small alien artefact back to their home planet before the bad guys on their trail find it. Should it fall into the wrong hands the earth will, naturally, be destroyed.
But, of course, like any story it's how you tell it that counts, and Witch Mountain gets the tone just right. Johnson proves to be at least as good as Arnie at playing light comedy, the action is plentiful, and there are some amusing digs at sci-fi conventions and their eccentric participants. Most of all, the twin threats – an alien robot and the ever-present Men In Black – are powerful and menacing. That last point is particularly important: if the people chasing our heroes are dimwits then there is little tension; here they are serious and very efficient, making every escape a little more thrilling.
OK, so it's light and silly and borrows from Terminator, Alien, and a host of other films, but it works. Ideal for eight to twelve year olds with nothing to offend the intelligence of adults.

Sadly, the other action outings this week are a bit on the naff side. The Punisher: War Zone (**) is the third crack at the titular comic book hero. Dolph Lundgren did it in the ‘80s and Thomas Jane in 2004. This time the rather anonymous Ray Stevenson stars but it is intended as a sequel to the 2004 film. So, four years after his family were killed The Punisher is still wiping out mob folk by the score. This time one gets away and starts a war against the vigilante. Plus points: almost nothing but non-stop action and violence. Minus points: almost nothing but non-stop action and violence.

12 Rounds (**) has a lot of car chases and explosions. It is directed by Renny Harlin who specialises in that sort of thing. It stars John Cena, yet another TV wrestler. John is a detective (he has a badge ‘n' all) who arrests a Bad Guy. The Bad Guy's moll is killed during the arrest. So - surprise! – the Bad Guy escapes and takes revenge by kidnapping John's girlfriend and, as only happens in movies, getting John to complete twelve 'challenges” to free her. Most involve driving really fast and things blowing up. Like the third Die Hard film but without originality or smarts.

Leaving action films aside, Blindness (**) is the third film from Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener), based on a highly regarded novel by Portuguese author José Saramago. It involves a contagious disease which makes people blind. Soon prisons are set up for the ever-increasing blind population and Julianne Moore is an immune sighted woman who pretends to be blind to be with her husband. The prison is, naturally, a microcosm of all the world's worst behaviour as people turn on, exploit and kill each other. It is impressively made, grim stuff, but is ultimately both uneven and suffering from plot holes.