Genre: Science Fiction | Fantasy
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Writers: Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Alice Krige, Jake Cherry.
MPAA rating: PG (for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor and brief language.)
Summary: Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Run time: 111 min
[Review Contains Spoilers]
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is very loosely based on Walt Disney’s Fantasia short from 1940. In the beginning of the film, we travel back to 770 A.D., where Merlin (James A. Stephens) had three protégées – Balthazar (Nicolas Cage), Veronica (Monica Belluci), and Horvath (Alfred Molina). The three had remained best friends, until Balthazar and Veronica fell in love and Horvath, feeling spurned by Veronica and betrayed by Balthazar, chose to join the evil Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige) in a plot to betray and kill Merlin in order to take over the world.
Morgana does succeed in murdering the great wizard, but Veronica sacrifices herself by absorbing Morgana into her body and, in an effort to save Veronica from being destroyed from the inside by Morgana, Balthazar is then forced to seal his lady-love Veronica, along with Horvath inside The Grimhold (an antique nesting doll). As the great wizard lay dying, he tasks Balthazar with scouring the globe for his next apprentice, “the Prime Merlinean” which is descendant of Merlin and the only Wizard who would possess the ability to destroy Morgana le Fay.
Fast-forward to the year 2000, 10 year-old Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry) is on a third-grade field trip and tries to make an impression on a cute little girl named Becky (Peyton List) by drawing on a school bus window in such a way that when the bus passes by a certain building on the New York skyline, it creates a famous scene from a classic film from 1933 (1976 or 2005, depending on which ones you’ve seen). That very same day, young Dave passes a “do you like me? yes or no?” style love note to Becky, but after she answers, the note gets carried away by the wind which transports it, and Dave chasing after it into an antique shop called Arcana Cabana.
While searching for his note in the shop, Dave is startled by Balthazar who asks him to try on Merlin’s dragon ring, once the ring wraps itself around Dave’s finger, Bathazar tells him that he is “going to be a very important sorcerer someday.” Dave then accidentally releases Horvath (Alfred Molina) from the Grimhold and after battling in the store, Balthazar tells young Dave to run while proceeding to seal himself and Horvath in an enchanted urn for a decade.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice then fast-forwards to 2010. Dave is now an awkward NYU physics major physics whose hobby is building Tesla coils in an abandoned New York subway turnaround that he has converted into a lab. Balthazar and Horvath are released from the urn. Balthazar seeks out Dave in order to train him to defeat Morgana and save Veronica while Horvath tries to kill Dave and Balthazar and find the Grimhold, so that he can release Morgana and rule the world. Throughout all of this, Dave is attempting to get Becky (Teresa Palmer), the girl that his 10 year-old self couldn’t manage to hook up with.
Nicolas Cage delivers a very quirky but also calm, cool and collected performance as Balthazar Blake and you can tell that he had fun with this role. Guess what? Jay Baruchel plays an awkward geek, imagine that! Seriously though, Baruchel does a fine job and his chemistry with Cage is fantastic in the film.
Alfred Molina usually plays a great villain, and his role as Horvath is no exception. Molina has a brilliant way of balancing the intellectual-humorous-classy-guy-who-just happens to want to kill you, very well – and you have to respect that. The beautiful Monica Belluci sadly didn’t have much screen-time, but she did well with what she was given.
Between the Tesla Coils, the plasma bolts, the homage to the mop scene in Fantasia and the magical mirrors, the special effects in the film were all top-notch.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice isn’t likely to win any awards, and yes it is a simplistic story but it’s also one hell of a fun movie. I think everyone should go see this simply because it is Summer movie escapism at it’s best. So, grab some popcorn, shut off your hard working mind, regress to your ten-year-old self and just have fun. You remember what you were like before you got all snarky and jaded don’t you? Yeah, that’s the part of you that will have a blast watching The Sorcerer’s Apprentice… oh, and stay for the after-the-credits scene.
I give The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Three Out of Five Stars
