Disney must have figured that there were onto a good thing after the roaring success of "Pirates Of The Caribbean". Plunging headfirst into their rides and old movies for further inspiration, some bright spark must have reckoned that there was mileage to be made from arguably the most famous scene from "Fantasia". But whereas "Pirates..." made the most of its source material, this feels somewhat laboured although it is still an entertaining if somewhat shallow romp.
Lonely weirdo Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is actually a powerful apprentice of Merlin, one of three that were battling the evil Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige) when they were betrayed by Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar is faced with no choice but to imprison Morgana with the love of his life Veronica (Monica Bellucci) in a vase and then spend the rest of time searching for the only one powerful enough to defeat Morgana. Bizarrely, that turns out to be geeky New Yorker Dave (Jay Baruchel) who is a little reluctant to go along with it at first. But as he begins to realise the extent of his powers, Dave realises that he faces a race against time to try and save the world and get the girl (Teresa Palmer).
Deep and thought-provoking it isn't but "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a perfectly decent family flick that won't upset too many people. Performances are surprisingly good - Cage is a lot more restrained than normal and Molina is a suitably grim villain. The plot is clearly nonsense but for once, it doesn't detract too much from the action and pyrotechnics on screen. And the effects are also pretty good but you'd expect that from a Disney film. The only real issue I have with it is that it's probably a bit too simple - it all gets wrapped up neatly by the end and I can't figure out why someone as geeky as Baruchel can pull someone like Palmer who looks like she should be arm-candy for the high school quarterback.
The other thing I take issue with is that there is a sense of desperation to it. By leaving it open for a sequel and basing itself on a brief segment in one of Disney's earliest outings, the whole thing feels like a big-name studio looking for a new franchise to fund now that "Pirates..." is running out of steam. But the only bit I could find that related to the source material was the scene in the underground lab - hardly enough to base a whole film on, let alone a franchise. I can't blame Disney for trying though but if there were going to try this hard, I wish they would make it a bit less obvious. But credit to them for producing an entertaining, rollicking adventure movie that is a perfectly acceptable summer movie for the family.
Lonely weirdo Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is actually a powerful apprentice of Merlin, one of three that were battling the evil Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige) when they were betrayed by Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar is faced with no choice but to imprison Morgana with the love of his life Veronica (Monica Bellucci) in a vase and then spend the rest of time searching for the only one powerful enough to defeat Morgana. Bizarrely, that turns out to be geeky New Yorker Dave (Jay Baruchel) who is a little reluctant to go along with it at first. But as he begins to realise the extent of his powers, Dave realises that he faces a race against time to try and save the world and get the girl (Teresa Palmer).
Deep and thought-provoking it isn't but "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is a perfectly decent family flick that won't upset too many people. Performances are surprisingly good - Cage is a lot more restrained than normal and Molina is a suitably grim villain. The plot is clearly nonsense but for once, it doesn't detract too much from the action and pyrotechnics on screen. And the effects are also pretty good but you'd expect that from a Disney film. The only real issue I have with it is that it's probably a bit too simple - it all gets wrapped up neatly by the end and I can't figure out why someone as geeky as Baruchel can pull someone like Palmer who looks like she should be arm-candy for the high school quarterback.
The other thing I take issue with is that there is a sense of desperation to it. By leaving it open for a sequel and basing itself on a brief segment in one of Disney's earliest outings, the whole thing feels like a big-name studio looking for a new franchise to fund now that "Pirates..." is running out of steam. But the only bit I could find that related to the source material was the scene in the underground lab - hardly enough to base a whole film on, let alone a franchise. I can't blame Disney for trying though but if there were going to try this hard, I wish they would make it a bit less obvious. But credit to them for producing an entertaining, rollicking adventure movie that is a perfectly acceptable summer movie for the family.