The SORCERER'S APPRENTICE

“The SORCERER’S APPRENTICE” (Nicholas Cage & Jay Baruchel)

I’m going to give this film a decent review, but it must be taken into affect that I waited until it came to the bargain $3 theatre – so when I say it’s a decent movie, I mean for only having to spend $3 to see it.
It’s #1 endearing quality & one I didn’t expect is an excellent sense of humor –
it rarely takes itself too seriously. Jay Baruschel (as the title character) plays the exact same role as he did in “She’s Out Of My League” – including the hitting on & capturing the heart of a chick that’s w-a-y out of his league – but Jay has a high likeability quotient, sort of like a young, homely Paul Rudd. It is Dave, Jay’s character that makes this film work - & it doesn’t hurt that Nicolas Cage (As Balthazar, the Sorcerer that takes Dave under his wing in order to save all of mankind) shows a playful, campy side as well without coming off as a jerk.
The tale, as presented in the opening sequence, concerns the 3 most powerful apprentices of the mega-wizard Merlin. Knowing that an evil sorceress named Morgana
(No, she doesn’t race into sporting events looking for superstars to smooch) had become powerful enough to defeat him, Merlin divides his powers up between the 3 apprentices.
Unfortunately Bath-whore (Alfred Molina) turns against Merlin & joins forces with the dark side. With a name like Bath-whore, Merlin should have seen it coming, but it just proves that wizards aren’t soothsayers. As Merlin lays dying he presents Balthazar with a dragon ring which will tell him whom his successor & the only sorcerer with enough power to defeat Morgana will be.
Balthazar imprisons Morgan in a nesting doll but his lover, & the 3rd apprentice, Veronica sacrifices herself in the process. Balthazar also captures Bath-whore along with some other villains inside the doll & then sets out on a world wide journey to find Merlin’s successor. 1,000’s of years pass but Balthazar doesn’t age due to a spell Merlin cast before his death.
We then slide effortlessly into New York in the 1990’s & meet Dave, a goofy kid that has a thing for a cute classmate named Becky. Dave accidentally enters a curio shop run by Balthazar. On a hunch the sorcerer offers Dave the dragon ring & it comes to life, wrapping itself around his finger. Dave then accidentally allows Bath-whore to escape from the nesting doll & Balthazar ends up being imprisoned himself while recapturing Bath-whore... Are you still with me?
Well, forget everything I’ve just written because nothing happens for another 10 years. Dave is now a grown up (Baruchel) & Becky (Teresa Palmer) is a
D-J for her college radio station. When Dave keeps showing up at the radio station, Becky asks, “Are you stalking me?” Dave mumbles, “Yeah, but not in a threatening way – so that’s good, right?”
Dave impresses Becky with his engineering skills & so she throws her former classmate a bone by agreeing to a date. When Balthazar & Bath-whore are released from their prison (A Russian urn) all heck breaks loose & the fun begins. Balthazar needs Dave to learn the ropes of wizardry quickly & Bath-whore needs his ring to bring Morgana back to life.
The special effects are kind of cool (The main reason I wanted to see this in a theatre) Bath-whore turns a Chinese ‘parade dragon’ into the real thing & it chases Dave relentlessly thru the streets of N.Y.C. Balthazar brings a giant eagle statue to life for transportation & a life-sized bronze statue of a bull presents the good sorcerers with an imposing predicament.
I liked it fine, but it isn’t ‘terrific’ – the homage paid to the original “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (Mickey Mouse) is a dumb waste of 10 minutes – but if you can overlook the silliness of the script & the fact that Morgana instantly knows how to use modern technology in order to bring ancient darkness back to life, it’s a worthy effort, due mainly to a genuine sense of humor. I laughed frequently and that made the movie enjoyable to me.