Two Bruckheimer productions in one summer? Thank the cinematic gods that the world has not ended underneath a torrent of special effects-laden schlock. Earlier, we saw the release of Prince of Persia, a loud and brainless movie based on a video game. Now, we have The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, a loud and brainless movie loosely based on a Mickey Mouse cartoon which, in turn, was based on a poem by Goethe. Aside from a scene involving enchanted mops run amok, this Sorcerer’s Apprentice has very little to do with any of the previous versions.
The film opens in Arthurian times as Merlin (James A. Stephens) falls in a battle against the evil sorceress, Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige), after being betrayed by one of his apprentices, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Merlin’s other apprentices, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) and Veronica (Monica Bellucci), manage to stop the evildoers. Veronica traps Morgana’s soul inside her body and Balthazar in turn traps them both inside a nesting doll. Over the centuries, Balthazar has captured over evil sorcerers (including Horvath) within layers of the doll as he searches for the Prime Merlinian, a magician with the power to destroy Morgana once and for all.
Flash forward to New York City in the year 2000 where a young boy named Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry) stumbles upon a magic shop run by Balthazar. Just as he realizes Dave is the chosen one, Horvath is accidentally freed from his prison. The wizards battle and entrap each other in an enchanted vase for ten years.
Flash forward again to the present day and both are finally released. Meanwhile, a grown-up Dave (Jay Baruchel) is now a physics student at NYU. Since that fateful day, he’s had countless hours of therapy and was forced to transfer to a new school. Dave still has a crush on fellow student, Becky Barnes (Teresa Palmer), who he knew back in grade school. Dave is thrust into the strange world of magic when he’s placed under the tutelage of the eccentric Balthazar. Together, they must stop Horvath from freeing Morgana and resurrecting an army of the dead to conquer the world.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice takes us on a Cliff Notes edition of the hero’s journey. Much as he did in his last film, She’s Out of My League, Baruchel is the gawky nerd who overcomes his doubts to win the day and get the pretty girl. Director Jon Turteltaub, who previously helmed the National Treasure films, makes sure to throw in plenty of whiz-bang special effects, a car chase, a giant steel eagle, a dragon, and even a few Hadokens for the Street Fighter II fans. Apprentice bounces from lengthy exposition to action sequence in breakneck manner.
Cage sports one of his least bizarre hairstyles for one of his least bizarre roles. It’s refreshing to see Cage restrain himself from his usual mugging of the camera. On the other hand, Molina realizes what a Z-grade film he’s starring in and acts accordingly with mustache twirling glee. The same goes for Toby Kebbell as a Criss Angel-esque illusionist.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the perfect movie for those of you who think Harry Potter could use more explosions and less of those pesky things like plot and character development.
Rating: * ½
1 comment:
The car chase scene in this movie is superb! But I couldn't find any vid of that scene on the internet. Maybe it's because of the accident that happened to Nicolas' stuntman while they were filming the movie. Hmm.
Erwin Calverley
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