[rating:4/5]
This was a fun filled magical Disney movie that is targeted for most everyone in the family . Little ones may find some of the scenes scary and to intense . The film had a good flow to it and had your typical Disney feel good ending though it had some ruff spots . Namely the main character Dave who is suppose to be Merlins successor to defeat Morgana in the 21st Century. They over nerded the character and sometime you wish you heard the sound of fingers across a chalkboard then the wining voice. But still somehow the character prevail to win you over and stick with him. Cages character Balthazar Blake the apprentice of Merlin himself is quirky odd in some respects like most of Cages characters but also does not lack in intelligence. The two seem to balance each other out and in the end makes for a great payoff.
The plot (see summaries below) was very well done. Solid script with a solid story. Not much bad I can say about that.
The effects are fantastically done with expert CG’s. One of my favorite scenes was when a Chinese New Years Paper Dragon comes to life in the middle of the parade . The dragon was realistic and the movements to the background was well done. Another favorite was the wizardly battles between Horvath and Blake. There were a few and all were well done .
A nice touch of the movie was recreating the Fantasia magic broom scene when Dave was trying to clean up the mess left from a training exercise. A little trivia The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is the English name of a poem by Goethe, Der Zauberlehrling, written in 1797. The poem is a ballad in fourteen stanzas. Which is pretty much about that scene.
Overall this is a family film with a lot of action and of course Disney magic that is worth seeing.
[rating:4/5]
Breakdown
- Plot and story – 4 out of 5 – Real solid story line and fun to watch
- Acting – 3 out of 4 – Here is where the movie loses a bit . Nicholas cage was really good and so was the villain Alfred Molina but Jay Baruchel nerdey wining at time grated the nerves and ear drums to the point of wanting jump onto on coming traffic to avoid it.
- Effects and Cinematography – 5 out of 5 – Fantastic and well done CGs
Even though by all means this film should get a 3 1/2 star rating because of Disney’s extra magical touch it nudges up to a 4 out of 5. Its a Go see it movie.
Here are two plot summaries one from the official site and the other from Wikipedia. Wiki being the one having all the spoilers and thorough of the two.
Synopsis from official Sorcerer’s Apprentice web site
Walt Disney Studios, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub, the creators of the “National Treasure” franchise, present THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE — an innovative and epic comedy adventure about a sorcerer and his hapless apprentice who are swept into the center of an ancient conflict between good and evil.
Balthazar Blake (NICOLAS CAGE) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (ALFRED MOLINA). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (JAY BARUCHEL), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE.
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Monica Bellucci, Toby Kebbell
In the year 740 AD, one of Merlin‘s apprentices, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina), turns against him, joining forces with the evil sorceress, Morgana le Fay. His other two apprentices, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) and Veronica (Monica Belucci), come to the rescue, but are too late to save Merlin from being mortally wounded by Morgana. Balthazar battles Horvath, and is about to be killed by Morgana; however, Veronica uses a spell to absorb Morgana into her. Morgana tries to kill Veronica from the inside, and to save Veronica, Balthazar imprisons Morgana and Veronica in the Grimhold, a prison similar to a nesting doll. Before dying, Merlin gives his remaining apprentice a dragon ring that will eventually chose the Prime Merlinian, who will become Merlin’s successor and obtain his powers. Throughout history, Balthazar imprisons evil sorcerers (Morganians) who try to release Morgana, including Horvath, into the Grimhold while he searches for the one that will defeat Morgana.
In 2000 in modern-day Manhattan, 9-year-old Dave Stuler (Jake Cherry) goes on a field trip with his class and crush, Becky (Peyton R. List). He sends her a note but loses it where he follows it into the streets. He runs into an antique store and meets Balthazar, who is still youthful as he was centuries ago. Realizing he is the one, Balthazar gives him the dragon ring which locks onto Dave’s finger. Balthazar leaves to find the spellbook while Dave uses the ring to open a passage revealing the Grimhold. Upon opening it, it unleashes Horvath. Horvath and Balthazar battle for it but end up imprisoned in a mystical vase. As for Dave, he was traumatized and humiliated by his classmates by a “wetting accident.”
19-year-old Dave (Jay Baruchel) is now a physics college student, who has gone through therapy for ten years, and has reunited with Becky (Teresa Palmer). Meanwhile, Horvath escapes the vase first and throws it out a window; Balthazar manages to escape just before the vase hits the ground and shatters. Horvath attempts to find Dave, who is the last person he remembers possessing the doll. He visits Dave and asks where the Grimhold is; when Dave can’t tell him where the Grimhold is, he unleashes a pack of wolves on Dave. Fortunately, Balthazar rescues him and they escape on a giant steel eagle. Dave initially refuses to help Balthazar find the Grimhold, wanting only a normal life, but relents and agrees to help as long as, once Balthazar has the Grimhold, he leaves Dave alone. They track the Grimhold to Chinatown, where Horvath has already released the next Morganian, an evil wizard named Sun Lok. With Merlin’s ring that he still held, Dave manages to defeat Sun Lok, and Balthazar retrieves the Grimhold. After, Dave agrees to become Balthazar’s apprentice and learn magical spells. Meanwhile, he becomes romantically involved with Becky against Balthazar’s wishes.
Horvath enlists Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell), a magician who uses his powers as an entertainer, to help him retrieve the Grimhold and defeat Balthazar and Dave, whom Horvath realizes is the Prime Merlinian. They attempt to kill Dave while he’s alone, but Balthazar saves him and traps Horvath using a “Hungarian Mirror Trap.” Dave demands to know the truth, and Balthazar tells him everything: Morgana is the one trapped in the Grimhold, as well as Veronica, Balthazar’s lost love, and if Morgana escapes, she will attempt a spell known as “The Rising,” which will raise evil sorcerers from the dead, and use them to destroy the world. Dave, as the Prime Merlinian, a descendant of Merlin and inheritor to all of his powers, is the only one who can defeat Morgana.
Horvath and Drake steal back the Grimhold; once they have it, Horvath uses a spell to steal all of Drake’s energy, killing him, and takes his ring. He releases the witch, Abigail Williams, in the last layer around the Grimhold and uses her to kidnap Becky. Once Abigail completes that, Horvath uses the same spell on her and steals all of her energy, as well as her magic pendant. Balthazar and Dave go to retrieve the Grimhold. Horvath threatens to kill Becky, forcing Dave to give up both the Grimhold and his ring. Balthazar goes on his own to defeat Horvath and Morgana, knowing that without the ring, Dave will be killed.
Horvath uses the added rings and energy to release Morgana, who still possesses Veronica’s body, from the Grimhold. With all of their preparations in place, Morgana begins the spell. But Dave, along with the help of Becky and using his skills on physics and plasma, reaches them in time to defeat Horvath and stop Morgana from completing the Rising. Balthazar then uses the same spell Veronica used before to absorb Morgana’s soul from her body and into his. But Morgana escapes from Balthazar’s body, killing him. She is about to incinerate them all until Dave stops her, using magic without the ring, proving that he is the Prime Merlinian. Using the same experiment he showed to Becky earlier, he discharges Morgana and destroys her using multiple plasma bolts. Then he saves Balthazar by jumpstarting his heart. Balthazar reunites with Veronica, giving her the necklace he wanted to give her before. Dave and Becky kiss and fly to France on Balthazar’s eagle.
After the credits end there is an extra scene. Mickey Mouse’s Fantasia wizard hat is seen under a glass jar in a workshop. The camera pans over to reveal Horvath’s hat on a nearby table. A hand reaches out to take it, presumably Horvath’s.