Released: July 2010
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Run Time: 109 Minutes
Rated PG
Cast:
Nicolas Cage: Balthazar
Jay Baruchel: Dave
Alfred Molina: Horvath
Toby Kebbell: Drake Stone
Monica Bellucci: Veronica
Alice Krige: Morgana
Recently, we have seen some iconic Disney movies get a live-action film adaptation. Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman, and most recently, Maleficent are all live-action adaptations of the older animated films. Surprisingly, most of them actually turned out to be pretty decent films. Maleficent is probably the best one of the bunch because it focused mainly on the villain of Sleeping Beauty. The result was actually a pretty touching and fantastic film that gave us a different look at the most iconic villain in Disney’s library. The only thing that was wrong with The Huntsman was the casting of Snow White. Kristen Stewart just wasn’t cut out for the role. Otherwise, it was a pretty strong film. Tim Burton’s film was truly bizarre, but that can only be expected of Tim Burton. Next year, we are getting another live-action adaptation: Cinderella. Why are so many Disney movies getting this treatment? I suppose a cynical person would say it’s for the money. Business-wise it makes sense. But I think there is an artistic expression that can be conveyed using today’s technology. In the case of Maleficent, we didn’t really know anything about her character in Sleeping Beauty. Maleficent gave us a different perspective and more background on the character which makes her far more compelling. When I heard that Disney was making a live-action movie based on the animated short, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I was skeptical. The original Sorcerer’s Apprentice was an animated short in the Disney film, Fantasia. I never would have thought that the short would be successfully translated to a live-action film starring Nicolas Cage. Who knew?
Opening in the year 740 AD, evil sorceress Morgana La Fey is confronting Merlin. Merlin has been betrayed by one of his apprentices, Horvath. Nicolas Cage, er, Balthazar Blake shows up with Veronica to confront Morgana. Unable to overpower her, Veronica absorbs Morgana’s soul and is trapped with Horvath within a doll. Centuries pass as Balthazar searches for the one person who is Merlin’s heir. Balthazar encounters young Dave in a small magician’s store and discovers that Dave could be the mystical Prime Merlinian. They are attacked by Horvath, who has escaped the doll and both Balthazar and Horvath get trapped in a large vase, but not before giving Dave Merlin’s dragon ring. 10 years later, Dave is a physics student when Horvath escapes along with Balthazar. Balthazar begins to train Dave as a sorcerer in the hopes that Dave can destroy Morgana. Looking back at the animated short which inspired The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, you have to wonder how they took an 8 minute piece of animation and expand it into a film that runs an hour and half. Essentially, it’s a very loose adaptation that happens to share the same name. That doesn’t make it a bad movie at all. There was really not a whole lot in the short except for the animation and the music. That was it.
While The Sorcerer’s Apprentice draws its main inspiration from the Fantasia short, the film also draws on certain aspects of Arthurian legend. The characters of Merlin and Morgana la Fey feature prominently in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In some ways, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice serves as kind of a parallel to King Arthur’s story in which an heir to a powerful being would be found and would become the next great king or sorcerer. It doesn’t strike me as a coincidence that The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is inspired in part by the legend of King Arthur. The casting of a movie is fairly important. You don’t want to get the wrong actor for the wrong part, but Nicolas Cage?! I never saw that one coming. Cage is known for playing some pretty wacky roles, but he does it extremely well. I never would have expected him to play a sorcerer. He knocks it out of the park. Cage’s penchant for quirky characters serves him well here. Balthazar is a sorcerer who’s a little off his rocker, but otherwise a force to be reckoned with. Alfred Molina is fantastic as Horvath. Molina’s always played great villains and he does a fantastic job here. He makes the character both elegant and slimy at the same time. Jay Baruchel was an odd choice, given his comedic background. Strangely enough, he’s actually fantastic. He gives the character an awkardness and nerdiness that is both funny and compelling. Yet at the same time, Jay gives Dave an extraordinary amount of emotional depth which keeps the character from becoming a total clown. The clown of the movie is Drake Stone played by Toby Kebbell. I don’t think I’ve seen a character with that level of vanity. He’s nuts. That’s all I can tell you.
This is a surprisingly exciting film to watch. It has some extremely impressive action in it. A lot of it involves the use of magic, but that also influences the film’s main car chase. I don’t think I’ve seen a car chase that involves magic before. It’s not only exciting, it also shows off the movie’s sense of humor. This is not a film that takes itself seriously, no sir. Jay Baruchel comes from comedy so he brings his sense of humor and when you combine that with Nick Cage’s quirkiness, it allows for some pretty hilarious moments. With plasma balls flying everywhere and cars changing shapes, the movie really doesn’t let up. The film also pokes fun at certain aspects of pop culture, including Star Wars. At 109 minutes, the film doesn’t overstay its welcome. Overall, it’s a surprisingly good movie with great performances all across the board. I do have some issues with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, though. There are two characters who are mentioned prominently throughout the film, Veronica and Morgana. They’re clearly important characters, but we don’t really see a whole lot of them. We know that Morgana’s evil and wants to destroy the world. But we don’t get a whole lot of background on Veronica. Horvath’s motivations aren’t much more beyond being spurned by Veronica. That’s it. What I would love to see is a kind of a prequel taking place during Merlin’s time with all these characters together. We see a bit of that during the opening sequence, but I would love to see how all of this actually started. Truthfully, even with certain issues, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a pretty solid movie with some fantastic performances and great special effects. This one definitely comes recommended. 9/10.