More importantly, it solidified the formula that would define Dwayne Johnson’s entire subsequent career: the impossible action hero with a heart of gold, protecting the innocent from overwhelming forces. For a late-winter blockbuster about two kids trying to find their spaceship, that is a legacy worth remembering.

Directed by Andy Fickman (known for The Game Plan ), Race to Witch Mountain takes the core premise of Alexander Key’s 1968 novel Escape to Witch Mountain —two extraterrestrial children with psychic powers trying to return home—and injects it with a heavy dose of post- Bourne Identity realism and summer-blockbuster spectacle. The film follows Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson), a Las Vegas cab driver with a troubled past (implied ties to the mob). Jack is trying to go straight, but his life is upended when two strange, well-dressed teenagers, Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig), jump into his taxi and order him to drive into the desert.

Jack, initially motivated by cash and survival, transforms into a reluctant protector, using his street-smart driving skills and brute strength to evade federal agents, black-ops helicopters, and an unstoppable extraterrestrial killer. One of the most interesting aspects of Race to Witch Mountain is Dwayne Johnson’s performance. In 2009, Johnson was still finding his footing as a pure leading man, moving away from the larger-than-life fantasy roles of The Scorpion King . Here, he plays Jack Bruno as a grounded, weary, and surprisingly vulnerable character.