Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

What do you want to be when you grow up? Odds are you didn’t say an all powerful apprentice sorcerer to Balthazar, one of three students of Merlin. No, of course you didn’t that’’s WAYY to specific but that’s exactly what is in Dave’s (Jay Baruchel) future. After a chance run in during a fourth grade field trip Dave meets Balthazar (Nicolas Cage), a sorcerer who’s been searching the globe for hundreds of years for the person who is to succeed Merlin and defeat the evil Morgana. Upon their meeting Balthazar has Dave try on a mystical dragon ring given by Merlin himself which will only fit a member of Merlin’s bloodline. After eons of time Balthazar’s search finally ends when the ring curls onto Dave’s finger. The celebration cannot begin just yet however as in walks Horvath, Balthazar’s former brother in magic and current arch enemy. A fight begins which only ends when both sorcerers are locked in a mystical urn which can’t be opened for 10 years trapping them both and leaving Dave to wonder what in the hell just happened. Fast forward ten years…Dave is a physics major in college with that fateful day nothing but an extremely odd memory. All is not well though, and the winds of change are blowing as Balthazar and Horvath are released from the magical prison which kept them from Dave for the last ten years. Balthazar must find and train Dave to fulfill his destiny and stop Horvath from releasing Morgana who plans on destroying the world.

Sorcerers, magic, dragons, fireballs and explosions….this flick has got to be fun right? Well yeah, I think fun is the best way to describe it. It’s no amazing feat of the cinematic arts but it certainly is a good way to spend an hour and a half. Jay Baruchel shines as the reluctant heir to Merlin’s funny hat wearing throne. I don’t know what it is about his kid but his brand of whimsy doesn’t really wear on me like say a Michael Cera. Nicolas Cage is also on point in his role and further proves my point that the crazier the hairstyle the better the role (Bangkok Dangerous aside, that is). The Sorcerer’s Apprentice seems to find the perfect mix between Disney family fun and rip roaring action adventure extravaganza, somewhat like the feel we got from the original Pirates of the Caribbean. The action scenes are awe inducing and include a great car chase scene, jaw rattling explosions and magical…well…magic.

While the good sections definitely make the movie worthwhile there are some area’s that are definitely lacking. The absence of any kind of legitimate training sequence really sticks out. It seems that one day Dave is completely clueless to the world of magic and then, without much teaching, he’s doing things that only Merlin himself could do. I know it’s cheesy but even an 80’s style training montage complete with adrenaline pumping music would have well served this need. Though I will interject that the Fantasia inspired mop and bucket clean up scene was a delight to see and was a step in the right direction for showing the progress of his learning. Also lacking is the lack of any real character depth…it doesn’t really seem like we get to spend enough time with any of the characters to really get to know them, especially with the bad guys. It was surprising the lack of screen time that Cage got given that his name is in the title slot of this film. Lastly, and this may be partly due to the lack of character depth, the ending seemed very anti-climactic. We get this entire build up to how bad ass Morgana is and what an amazing sorcerer Horvath can be and then everything is wrapped up in a matter of minutes. We didn’t need a knockdown drag out fight, but it would have been nice to see the full gamut of sorcery on display for the final showdown.

So the 10 million dollar question. Is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice worth the price of admission? Yes and no I would say. In my humble opinion it really depends on the demographic you are in, if you are taking a kid who’s 5-15 or if you, like me, enjoy movies that cater to this age group than yes, I would definitely recommend it. However if your taste is more of an adult nature I would say wait for the DVD, but make sure you see it at some point as it definitely merits at least a home video viewing. A magical time, pun completely intended of course, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a must see extremely fun time but you may not need to see it right away if need be, just make sure you see it at some point.

4 out of 5 Guttenbergs