"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a live-action adaptation of the Mickey Mouse animated short from Disney's "Fantasia" (and I use that term lightly as it is a very loose adaptation). It takes the premise of a powerful sorcerer and his apprentice and builds on that by forming a story around the original master wizard, Merlin, and his three apprentices, Balthazar, Horvath, and Veronica. When Merlin's biggest enemy, Morgana, rises to power and Horvath betrays his master to take allegiance with her, it's up to Balthazar to find the Prime Merlinean - the only sorcerer who can defeat Morgana. A thousand years later, Balthazar finally crosses paths with geeky physics student, Dave, who appears to be the chosen one to inherit Merlin's powers. But even with Balthazar's training, does Dave really have what it takes to defeat a sorceress as powerful as Morgana? Nicolas Cage plays Balthazar with his usual slightly mad recklessness and eccentricity. Cage seems to be having a really fun time in this role, and his good humor is infectious. And with his now trademark scrawny, awkward loser type, Jay Baruchel plays Dave; I'm sure one day we will all get sick of seeing Baruchel play the same character, but I can honestly say that day hasn't arrived for me yet. The story is silly at best, the effects are all-out explosively thrilling (in true Jerry Bruckheimer form), and the acting is pretty much beside the point. This film is just mindless fantastical fun - it doesn't quite live up to its magical aspirations, but it comes pretty close.
3 out of 5 stars
No comments:
Post a Comment