The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This was one of those movies that while I was excited to see, I had a quiet reserve for it because I was not sure if Nicholas Cage could pull off the sorcerer. The same people who to me are surprisingly rudely negative about this film would probably say I'm too easily pleased, but I enjoy movies as escapism for the most part and see no need to pick this very enjoyable vehicle to death. Plus in today's world it is always refreshing when you are able to go to a movie that does not have the over-sexed up scene, so it is safe to take all the kids and even grandma.

For some reason it seems that whenever Jerry Bruckheimer is doing a film of some sort he is able to get a great cast that all gel well and have some great chemistry. I am really happy to say that Nicholas Cage pulls off the sorcerer Balthazar Blake with great ease. He brings some great depth to the sorcerer but not only being mystical and comical with the character but we also feel the longing he has in his heart which in turn really endears the audience to his character. Jay Baruchel also does a great job as the the science nerd who is the reluctant hero. Baruchel plays this role with such a shy, awkwardness that we can not help but root for him to end up with the "hot" girl and at the same time we want him to become the hero he has the power to be if he could only believe in himself. I would like to see Baruchel though step into a main role that doe s not require him to be the lovable nerd. I think if he can show some versatility in his acting I think he will show me that he can be a big time actor who could be in any role.

While Baruchel and Cage are the epitome of good in this movie, nothing says evil like Alfred Molina as Horvath. Molina's portrayal brings the right amount of darkness to the position as the villain. Molina as the villain also has its twists he has a hatred for Balthazar but at the same time is the villain that still has a respect for Balthazar. I think though the other villain of the oily rock star magician Drake Stone was very under utilized. His character could have been used more for some fun comic relief as well as they could have portrayed a greater struggle he could have had between good and evil due to his rock star status within his entertaining.

The movie keeps a lively pace and I never lost interest plus a fair number of laughs. Some interesting character twists with the oily young rock-star magician helping Molina, and some very funny cheeky nods to the original animated Fantasia - watch for the nod to Star Wars. Great and interesting special effects that made sense when they were used. Even the way the actors moved when they were doing magic was very good for some reason the wand-waving in Harry Potter sometimes reminds me of people using a flyswatter or shaking a bug off a stick, that didn't happen in this film.

Jon Turtletaub's direction is superb. It is a great breath of fresh air to go to a movie with action scenes that are comprehensible. He makes a great choice with it being a family movie he does not use the popular shaky camera quick edit style. While the quick edit is great for those times where you want to feel apart of the action it is nice when you are able to see exactly who does what during the action sequences. The soundtrack is great and the original score by Rabin helps to catch the emotions, while at the same time using some modern music to help bring in the tough teen demographic. There are a couple of very cool special effects using Tesla coils. The only tough thing with the Tesla coils throughout the movie is that because of the movie The Prestige, whenever I think of Tesla my thoughts immediately turn to picturing David Bowie.

Overall I really enjoyed this movie. Disney gave some great homage to the original sorcerer's apprentice. The cast is top notch and really brings each and every character to life. I feel that they successfully bring characters into the film and five each one even a small amount of depth. Bruckheimer has shown his success once again. I am giving this movie three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is a movie that I will be adding to my collection and I am sure it will be a fun movie to watch time and time again with my family.

-The Movie Man-