Movie Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Saturn Films, Broken Road Productions, Junction Entertainment, USA, 2010.

Merlin's apprentice Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) wages an eternal war against evil. Evil witch Morgana (Alice Krige) gains the spell to raise undead. Balthazar captures Morgana in a matryoshka doll along with good sorceress Veronica (Monica Bellucci) and begins searching for Merlin's successor. Young Dave (Jake Cherry) finds Balthazar's magic shoppe and accidentally frees evil sorcerer Horvath (Alfred Molina). Then both of the sorcerers end up in a pot. The accident makes Dave seem like a freak in front of the other kids.

Balthazar

Dave

Becky

Ten years later Dave (Jay Baruchel) is a science geek specializing in the use of Tesla coils. He meets his childhood's love Becky (Teresa Palmer) who now hosts a radio show. The sorcerers jump out from the urn and both of them begin to search for Dave, it is a kind of a bad Terminator and a good Terminator style situation. Dave and Balthazar must find the doll before Horvarth can free the baddies. And in no time the sorcerers are causing a ruckus in Chinatown. Balthazar begins to train Dave, but Dave's romance with Becky distracts him. Horvath also recruits a stage magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell) as his sidekick. Not surprisingly Dave must get over his insecurities, save the world and get the girl.

Horvath

Drake Stone

I see faces!

As Disney nowadays often makes reinterpretations of its classic animations, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a spiritual successor of one of "Fantasia's" segments. Dave casts spells to clean up his lab just as Mickey Mouse did and the consequences are the same. This was a collaboration of Bruckheimer's studio and Disney so this is close to the "National Treasure" movies that means having special effects laden adventure with family friendly humour. It is okay family fun although it is a bit darker than let's say for example  "Enchanted". Nicolas Cage is surprisingly reined in here, and does not have really weird moments. Except that this is one of his funny hair movies and his hair is only slightly shorter than in "Con Air." Basically it is an okay middle-of-the-road fantasy adventure but not much classic material can be seen here.

Ian McShane is the uncredited Narrator. Special effects by Asylum. Obs! Not The Asylum!

Rating: Average

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Omar Benson Miller, Monica Bellucci, Alice Krige, Jake Cherry, James A. Stephens, Gregory Woo, Wai Ching Ho, Jason R. Moore, Robert Capron, Peyton List, Sándor Técsy, Marika Daciuk, Nicole Ehinger, Adriane Lenox, Ethan Peck, Manish Dayal, Oscar A. Colon, Joe Lisi, William Devlin, Victor Cruz, Melissa Gallagher, Parisa Fitz-Henley, Brandon Gill, Henry Yuk, Jordan Johnston, Izuchukwu Mozie, Amit Soni, Maha Chehlaoui, Adria Baratta, Rosie Moss, Ian Alda Director: Jon Turteltaub