Ed's Review Dot Com

Walt Disney Pictures

Nicholas Cage,  Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer

The silliest part of this movie was the sweetest.  The tribute to Mickey’s appearance in the original Fantasia as The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  It had to be there, and it was a nice nod to the co-founder of the company.  But nothing much else in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice really was at all like Fantasia!  It’s a really nice family version of a mythical adventure.   For being thousand of years old, Nicholas Cage looks pretty good.  And Alfred Molina really can play the scary guy pretty well.   There’s not a lot to the story, it’s a lot like others.  Merlin, yes the original Merlin is fighting with Morgana (wasn’t she Arthur’s sister?) and he has three apprentices, one apprentice too many.  Like a typical love triangle, the 3rd wheel turns traitor and sets off on a quest to destroy the world and all mankind by bringing back Morgana and her followers along with a great dead army.  Don’t get excited about all the zombies.  They have no real part in the story.  Instead it’s two love stories in one.  And along the way there is lots of magic, and wizard duels, and dirty tricks, and science and technology, and good old fashioned Disney family values.  And because it starts out with fireworks over the castle in the logo, it’s a got to have a famous Disney death in it.   What’s a Disney death you say?  A Disney death is the loss of a major character who is not really dead, but just sleeping waiting to be awakened by magic or love’s first kiss.  Like Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book, or Snow White in Snow White,  or just about any leading character in any Disney film.   Yeah, we get to witness a Disney death.  No surprise here.

But its funny, and it’s adventurous, and it’s PG.  So it’s good for anyone but small kids.   They might be frightened by some of the battles and destruction.  But anyone over 8 or 10 ought to really enjoy this one.  I think this is the kind of adventure where it pays to witness it on the big screen with an audience.  But with the presence of some of the great home theater equipment, it may be good at home too.   This was a film when the audience clapped at the end.  I remember when it was expected that you applaud a live performance, and did NOT at a film when the cast was not present.  But I also remember when it was expected that you sit through the credits as well.   But film people have gone so far overboard, that just like you can arrive 15 minutes late and skip the 10-12 previews at the front, but you can also assume the movie will be over 20 minutes before it is because every catering truck and limo driver and lasagne server has to be listed in the never ending credits that nobody sits through them.

Anyway, I digress.  I recommend The Sorcerer’s Apprentice if you like action, adventure, mystical movies.  You cheer the heroes and boo the villains, and you can enjoy the explosions, fireballs, and lightning bolts.  This is a long film, nearly 3 hours with all the added stuff in the front and end, but it’s well worth the ride.