The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Anyone who has ventured into a cinema the past two months or so could tell you that things are looking pretty grim when it comes to the big budget blockbusters this summer. Iron Man 2 was okay, but ultimately very disappointing. Prince of Persia stumbled right out of the gate. More recently, The Last Airbender just flat-out sucked. So, you can understand that I did not exactly walk into The Sorcerer's Apprentice with a spring in my step. By all accounts, a potential blockbuster loosely inspired by a 10 minute cartoon from the 1940s should be a certain disaster. But, the movie's actually kind of fun.

I should stress that it's fun in a mindless way. This isn't art, but I was eventually won over by the goofiness of the plot, and the fact that the movie has enough sense not to take itself seriously. The special effects are kind of creative, some of the one liners are funny, and there's enough space between the action so we don't feel bombarded or overwhelmed. This is competently made summer popcorn entertainment - no more, no less. The movie opens with one of those background story intro sequences that either make me wince, or smile with a big, goofy grin, depending on how it's used. This one made me smile. An overly dramatic narrator informs us that thousands of years ago, the wizard Merlin imprisoned his arch nemesis, the sorceress Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige) and her followers in an old fashioned doll. Merlin died before he could complete the task, so one of his apprentices Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) has been traveling the world, capturing Morgana's other followers, and searching for the true heir to Merlin's title.

I smiled even more when I heard the title that the heir to Merlin will hold. He or she will be known as "The Prime Merlinian". I love made up titles like that. Only Nicolas Cage could get away with saying that he is searching for the Prime Merlinian, and not get a bad laugh. He has this look to his face in his performance as the wizard Balthazar that gives you the impression that he is wise to the ways of the world, but the lights aren't exactly all on upstairs. The action jumps ahead to the year 2000, where a young boy named Dave (Jake Cherry) stumbles upon Balthazar while chasing a run away love note that got caught in a convenient breeze. Balthazar realizes he has finally found the heir to Merlin's power, but before he can begin training the boy, the kid accidentally breaks the doll, and releases one of Morgana's followers - the evil wizard Horvath (Alfred Molina, who brings a certain amount of playful style and menace to the role). A fight breaks out, a lot of special effects happen, and both Balthazar and Horvath are sucked into a magic vase for the next 10 years. No one believes little Dave's story about what happened, and we once again jump forward another 10 years to the present. The movie's only 15 minutes old at this point, and we've already jumped almost 2000 years.

In the present, the now 20-year-old Dave (Jay Baruchel) is trying to put that moment in his past behind him. He's a physics student, does a lot of underground science work, and still longs for the same girl he did back when he was 10, the lovely Becky Barnes (Teresa Palmer). It's right around this time that Balthazar and Horvath are both released from the magic vase, and pretty much pick up where they left off. Balthazar tracks down Dave once again, and begins to train him in magic, while Horvath seeks out the doll so that he can release Morgana and the rest of the villains sealed within. As a plot, it serves its purpose. It exists as a means to stage a lot of elaborate comic action sequences all over New York City, with fortunately some imaginative results. I liked it when both of the wizards bring inanimate figures of animals to life. (Balthazar flies upon a giant steel eagle that used to be a statue on top of a skyscraper, while in the climax, Horvath brings a giant brass bull to life to threaten the heroes.) The movie at least has fun with itself. It's not just a parade of special effects sequences. There's some humor, such as when a paper dragon in a Chinatown parade is turned into a real dragon, and the people who were controlling the paper dragon become stuck inside it.

Director John Turteltaub (who previously worked with Cage on the National Treasure films) at least knows how to make attractive cinematic junk food. The movie isn't brought down by fast editing, or effects that overpower the performances. I'm also glad he resisted the urge to add a hasty layer of 3D paint over the film. I am sad to say this may become a rarity in the coming summers. He knows what he's doing here. He gets good performances out of his cast, who constantly seem to be in on the joke, but are not obnoxiously winking at the camera. I kind of like how everyone in this movie seems to take things in stride. When Becky finds out that the guy she's dating is training to be a sorcerer, she takes it as well as can be expected, and even rushes off to help in her own way. I guess that's a good sign for the relationship should a sequel come around.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice will definitely work for kids of a certain age. As for adults, it depends on how much you're able to throw common sense out the window, and just let the story take you in each implausible direction. I resisted for a while, but ultimately gave in to the silliness. It's the perfect kind of movie for a hot summer afternoon where you just want to sit in an air conditioned room, and not think that much. Or at all.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

0 comments