Rating: 4 Shurikens
I was anticipating this film for quite a while after seeing the previews earlier in the year. It is a fantasy story, with science fiction elements, based very loosely on the old Mickey Mouse cartoon of the same name. If you haven't seen it, the cartoon that is, it's probably on YouTube somewhere, or you can find it in the movie Fantasia. In the cartoon, Mickey play a budding magician who is left at home alone while the Wizard goes out. He has a set of chores to do, but decides to animate the mops and buckets using spells from the wizards book. Chaos ensues, and the Wizard comes home and fixes the mess, but Mickey still has to do the chores. There is a moral in there somewhere, I think having to do with shortcuts sometimes making more work for you, or something like that.
The Sorceror's Apprentice is a movie about a young man with a destiny, and the Sorceror who must be his teacher and mentor. The young sorceror is played by Jay Baruchel, who does a very nice bit of acting playing a twenty year old college student, since he is close to 28 at the time the movie was made. Nicholas Cage plays the Sorceror, named Balthazar Blake. Balthazar has been searching all over the world for the apprentice foe 1400 years or so, from the days of the original Merlin.
Morgana, the evil nemesis of Merlin himself, is trapped in a vessel resembling a Russian dolls. Russian dolls are the kind that are like bowling pins, which come apart at the waist, revealing a smaller one inside. In the case of Morgana, there are several layers, each of which has an evil magician trapped in it. The outermost vessel has Maxim Horvath trapped in it, who is a contemporary of Balthazar, and who has been trying for hundreds of years to get Morgana out. Horvath is played by Alfred Molina, seen recently in the Prince of Persia, another Disney film, where he played the rascally merchant who befriends and also betrays the Prince. He played Doctor Octopus, brilliantly, in Spiderman 2.
Interestingly, Horvath and Balthazar both loved the same woman, and she chose Balthazar, which made Horvath mad. Thus, Horvath became evil. The girl they both loved sacrificed herself to help get Morgana trapped in the first place, so Balthazar has been pretty miserable for hundreds of years, but never turned to evil like Horvath.
The movie opens with Dave, the apprentice, going on a field trip to New York City. The girl he likes is in the same class, so he passes her a note, asking her if she likes him. She marks her answer, and before he gets it back, it blows away. He chases the note, which leads him to a shop of antiquities, and he maakes the acquaintance of Balthazar. He also manages to free Horvath, and then traps them both. Dave is traumatized by the experience, which we find out as it flashes forward to his college days.
He grows up to be a college nerd, who does experimental work at a disused subway station. He gets to meet, again, his old flame from the fourth grade. Her name is Becky Barnes, played by Teresa Palmer, who has grown up to be very cute. He also begins to learn how to use the magical powers that he was destined for. There is lots of good action, and the soundtrack is very impressive. Musically, it is a very good movie, and as a nerdy sci-fi fantasy, it gets high marks. Appealing to small children and older audiences is always difficult, but something which is trademark of Disney.
The Sorceror's Apprentice has romance, danger, intrigue, and good acting. I can't say too much because I want people to see the movie, since I give it 4 Shurikens. It is time well spent. Stay after the credits for a small tease.
