Customer Reviews

The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo+Digital Copy)

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(54)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(18)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Dave was your typical ten-year-old until one fateful afternoon on a field trip when he passed a note to his crush. The note was swept up in a gust of wind and through a series of odd coincidences ended up inside a shop. It was in this shop that Dave met Balthazar, who informed Dave that he is a sorcerer.

Fast forward ten years and Dave is now a socially inept physics geek. Balthazar reenters Dave's life and tells him he needs to begin his training. Dave quickly realizes he's caught up in a centuries-old rivalry that could result in the end of the world- and he is the only one who can prevent it. Balthazar quickly tries to train Dave so they can battle the forces of evil that are trying to destroy the world.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is an exciting and entertaining film for the whole family! It has a little of everything in it- action, magic, humor and romance! The characters are funny and interesting (everything from geeky Dave to the greatest wizard ever known, Merlin). The content is family friendly so you can enjoy it with the kids, but it's exciting enough to be a great movie for adults as well. I enjoyed the acting, and everyone did a spectacular job! There were quite a few familiar faces- Nicholas Cage is fantastic (as always) and Jay Baruchel once again shows that he is a pro at portraying the painfully awkward guy! Alfred Molina is also present, and plays a great villain! There are also many new faces- Toby Kebbell is showing us that he is an extremely diverse actor, one moment he's playing a rugged Persian prince and the next he's an egocentric magician!

One of the things I love about this movie is that Disney gives a nod to some of its past endeavors (Hint: think of a character by the same title and you'll have an idea of what I'm referring to). Subtle homage to various films and characters can be seen throughout the movie, providing what computer geeks would refer to as "Easter eggs" for the viewer to catch. Some are relatively obvious, but if you're like me, you'll have to brush the cobwebs off of your memories of some of the older Disney flicks!

I also love that the trailers didn't ruin every funny scene. There were many other parts of the movie that made me laugh! This movie has plenty of surprises, and it keeps you engaged for the entire length of the film. The soundtrack is also excellent, with fantastic compositions from Trevor Rabin. His music sounds like a cross between Klaus Badelt's Pirates of the Caribbean score and Steve Jablonsky's Transformers score, with a few distinct touches of his own. The primary song repeated throughout the film is OneRepublic's "Secrets", which I feel was an appropriate song choice!

The movie is a bit predictable, but it's not as if you can expect otherwise from a Disney film. Some of the characters weren't incredibly well developed, however I don't feel it detracted from the film. To have gone into the details of every character would have made the movie too long. Regardless, I would highly recommend this movie to anyone! So, if you're in the mood for something a bit more action packed, definitely consider this one! Also, if you tend to be a film score junkie (like me), you should definitely consider grabbing the soundtrack! It's got some great tracks!

If you think a good movie is filled with clever humor, rollicking adventure, innocent romance and good actors you will be sure to enjoy The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

It's just good movie making, well paced with just the right balance of great characters, charm, action and fantasy, Disney did a fine job with this one. A satisfying story and one of the better movies of recent years. Kids and adults will be entertained.

If you think a good movie requires F-bombs, vulgar jokes and low-life characters you may be disappointed.

My only quarrel with The Sorcerer's Apprentice was that it was too short to fully develop some of the characters (avoiding spoilers here). Otherwise, it's a fun summer romp with one of the best car chases I've seen in a long time. The story is about Balthazar Blake's quest for the Prime Merlinian. As one of Merlin's three original apprentices, it's been up to Blake to find the person who possesses the potential to achieve Merlin's magical prowess. He finds nine-year old Dave, but there's a ten year lapse in their acquaintanceship. When they finally meet up again, Dave is a nerdy NYU physics student. As the reluctant Dave's apprenticeship begins, there are obstacles in the form of Maxim Horvath, his tattooed sidekick Drake Stone and Dave's burgeoning love affair with Becky. There's also the evil Morgana Le Fay who plans on world domination if given half a chance.

The cast is small but strong. Standouts are Jay Baruchel who keeps Dave's nebbishness from caricature, Alfred Molina whose Horvath has a nice sense of entitlement and Toby Kebbell's Drake Stone. I've had a love/hate relationship with Nicholas Cage for a while, unbeknownst to him. At his worst, he's depressed and weird, at his best, he's warmly eccentric. I'm happy to report that in this movie, he's the latter and makes Balthazar sparkle.

The plot is not especially original, but does contain a couple of twists, focusing more on relationships than on the actual magic though there are some pretty cool special effects. Deep, this movie isn't, but it is fun with some wonderful comic moments, not the least of which is the homage to Paul Dukas' original music as illustrated in Disney's Fantasia. The movie borrows from some other famous franchises, too. Spiderman, Harry Potter and the Mummy all make contributions, but The Sorcerer's Apprentice winks at the audience and manages to make the cliches fresh.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is an homage to Dr. August Coppola, Nicholas Cage's father, who taught film and died last October. I think Dr. Coppola would have liked this movie. I certainly did.

Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected places. If I remember correctly, not many people thought that a Disney theme park ride could be a huge hit franchise, but Jack Sparrow, pirate captain in the Caribbean, turned out otherwise. So it is only natural that Hollywood studios have made a new fantasy adventure film "suggested" by "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," eight-minute segment of the classic animated film "Fantasia" released in 1940. Well, the beloved Mickey Mouse tale is actually based on Goethe's poem, so why not make another one?

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" starring Nicholas Cage as the sorcerer Balthazar Blake is a pretty well-made, if not very unoriginal, family-oriented adventure film. It is good clean fun like Cage's "National Treasure" franchise and in fact "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is helmed by Jon Turteltaub, director of two "National Treasure" films.

Skip the lengthy introduction about Merlin and three apprentices. Mostly set in 2010 New York City, the film's story is in short about the battle between the good magician and the evil one. Nicholas Cage is a good magician Balthazar, and Alfred Molina evil one Horvath. The evil magician wants to destroy the world as it is. The good one wants to stop it. The bad one enlists the celebrity "magician" Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell). The good one trains a college student Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) as his apprentice.

Set-pieces of the magical battles are enjoyable, all finished with first-rate CGI techniques, but some interesting characters (Drake Stone, in particular) are sidelined by the action, and Monica Bellucci as Merlin's apprentice Veronica has little to do in the story. Also, there is a brief sequence of enchanted brooms, but the "live-action" version of the tale from "Fantasia," amusing as it is, looks out of place in the storyline. The subplot about the young hero's childhood friend (Teresa Palmer) fares slightly better, though not as impressive as the romance of Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

Cliché-ridden as it is, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is an entertaining family picture. Pretty good, if not great.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a mix of the television series Merlin, the Alchemyst book series from Michael Scott, and a dash of Doctor Who. In this world, anything is possible through magic using science. However, it requires not one, but two different prologues to explain everything. This must be why the marketing department didn't bother to explain that the movie revolves around the mortal enemies of Merlin and Morgana le Fay. It was a very refreshing take on Merlin to kill him off in the first five minutes and set up Morgana for a present day awakening. Naturally, Merlin needs a successor but his personal "sword in the stone" takes the form of a ring: a dragon that sleeps until the day he meets the special boy that will defeat Morgana forever.

Enter, David Stutler, a screw-up kid who can't do anything right. Yet, who can resist a ten-year-old with a Buzz Lightyear alarm clock? Jake Cherry is well-cast and well-trained to mirror the mannerisms of Jay Baruchel, his grown-up counterpart who appears in the next scene. Baruchel first starred in the short lived television series, Undeclared. After nine years of being the co-star, his biggest role to date was the unseen voice actor for Hiccup in Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon. Here, he's the titular character and pulls it off, even though his hair does seem Ten-ish. (Or perhaps Tennant-ish would be the better term.)

Even more surprising was Nicholas Cage. His career seemed to have hit a creative plateau where his name was no longer a draw. Then, Kickass came along and reminded us why we liked him in the first place. His character is Balthazar Blake and was an apprentice of Merlin. For over a thousand years, he's lived to help save the world from the acolytes of Morgana and to find Merlin's successor. Usually, Cage appears too laid back, but here, even in silence you can see him acting whether it's the frown of his lips or the haunted look in his eyes. You can see the thousand years he's lived through and what it's meant to him.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice runs under two hours, but never appears too slow or too fast. The action only rests for a moment so the viewer can catch their breath before it picks up again: betrayals, double-crosses, dragons coming alive or the greatest car chase ever. There is never a moment to stop and let the audience's minds reflect on whether they need more milk in the fridge or if they ought to get new shoes.

The film is inspired by the cartoon short in Fantasia featuring Mickey Mouse which was in turn inspired by a Victorian symphonic poem by Paul Dukas. The required scene was done in a cute way that doesn't tarnish the original and there is a further reference if you stay through all the credits. This is the best film Jerry Bruckheimer has produced since the first two installments of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Movie - 4.0

I think I've only seen Fantasia once all the way through, and I was probably around 6 or 7, meaning I remember next to nothing about it other than Mickey Mouse making household objects dance and clean stuff, the melody for that particular piece of the movie, and the fact that the entire thing was a musical. I will, however, admit I'm a big Nicholas Cage fan and have always liked him as an actor. And given his track record with director Jon Turteltaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer over the last decade or so I was at least pretty excited to see what appears to be yet another addition to the seemingly increasing number of action/fantasy movies in 2010. The Sorcerer's Apprentice follows Balthazar Blake (Nicholas Cage) from the time of Merlin up to the present day where he was, at some point, supposed to find the Prime Merlinean - the one magician who would be destined to defeat the evil Morgana. In finding him, Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) turns out to be the apparent successor to Merlin and must learn the ways of sorcery. Somewhere along the way Morgana's servant, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) is on the loose and looking to free Morgana as well. For a PG-rated movie it's very lighthearted, but still manages to have a good amount of humor, just enough character empathy, and a lot of very well-coordinated action sequences. The fantasy element alone is pretty cool to look at and makes for a fun and adventurous kind of film, and I'm surprised it didn't fair as well during it's theatrical run. What I liked the most about it was the relationship between the "crazy and quirky, but all-knowing" master and his "just wanna be normal, but really can't because he's not" apprentice. It makes for some cute, fluffy situational humor here and there, but never loses site of the fact that it's still a simple good vs. evil story between magicians and their pupils. I thought Cage played the eccentric Balthazar very well opposite a convincingly villainous Molina. This is only my third serving of Baruchel's acting (outside of Tropic Thunder and How to Train Your Dragon), but he plays that nerd gimmick pretty well for what it's worth.

Video - 5.0

Being a newly-minted transfer, the picture is as pristine as can be. The best aspect to me is the sheer lack of noise in practically every shot. But despite the lack of noise, the film has a very, very fine layer of film grain that gives it something of a gritty, but also filmic and theatrical look. Even in the shots of old Britain through the dark and drab lighting of Merlin's lair (at least I think that was his lair), detail is very sharp and easy to decipher amongst the shadowy look of the place. Black levels especially benefit from this giving off a great sense of depth and delineation in facial textures, costuming, and low-lit scenes. You can see all the lines and differences in brown and black between Balthazar's rawhide coat and black suit underneath, the scruffiness of his beard, the shagginess of his hair, the wrinkles on his face, and the objects within the shadows of Dave's lab. In terms of color, there's quite a bit of it throughout the film in the form of blue energy bolts, green, red, and orange magical flames, and so forth. But the best display, in my opinion, is the Chinatown scene. With a street parade carrying on, fireworks popping, and confetti falling all over the place (literally over a ton of it according the extras), the predominant color here is red (with slight hints of yellow), but it's never overly so and provides a very clear and immaculate sheen to the overall picture. Contrast is also perfect revealing lots of subtle textures and detail (as mentioned earlier about Balthazar) with somewhat of a warm hue to skin tones, but again, not overly so providing for a well-balanced color palette. Because of this CG-integration is very remarkable as well (as will be mentioned in the extras) making for a very believable and realistic presentation of all the film's special effects. It's a very clean picture and easy go-to reference material for friends and the yet-to-converted-from-DVD crowd. There are no absolutely no signs of aliasing, noise, edge enhancement, artifacting, dirt, or any of those bothersome video anomalies. Disney succeeds yet again in producing another stunning transfer with a movie that's every bit as deceptively enjoyable as people don't realize.

Audio - 5.0

The film starts off with a pretty good tease in the Jerry Bruckheimer logo imitating the sounds of the Tesla Coil lightning effects with a great deal of crackle and rumble. Dynamic range and separation are amazing between the narrator explaining the backstory and the on-screen action between Merlin, Morgana, and the rest of the apprentice gang. Magical explosions literally burst through the walls creating some awesome LFEs and bass. Chains clang, more magic is shot, and it goes into something of a musical montage to the almost-present day where we get to hear Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" (which sounds pretty good in lossless) and kid-Dave reaches Arcana Cabana where some of the real effects start to break out. After the seal on Horvath's Grimhold is broken the crawling roaches forming his body and the thunderous footstep he takes will really wake you up. The actiony music picks up in tempo as they start exchanging hits and shooting energy bolts. There's an excellent amount of clarity in both high and low ends. The fronts do most of the work with music coming from the rears creating some nice ambience. Probably the best scene in the movie in terms of overall sound usage, though, (much like the video) is the scuffle in Chinatown. You've got a little bit of everything here from subtle directionality in the crowd noise dispersing through the four surrounds, audible dialogue from the center despite the chaos that ensues, a very healthy dose of LFEs from the dragon that chases Dave around, and a balanced level of volume between all of that and Trevor Rabin's adventurous score (you can even hear the falling confetti at the end of the scene). And this isn't even mentioning the Tesla Coil show or thrilling car chase later on. But the quieter moments have great subtitle to them as well, like when Balthazar is walking around and you can hear his jacket flapping, the weight and density of his old-man shoes as he walks around, the honking horns and squeaking of brakes in the city scape, crackling fires burning, the echo of subway cars, and so on. Like the video, there are no flaws to be found here either. Bravo to the sound team on both sides.


Extras - 3.5

We start off with "Magic in the City," which covers the shooting of the film in New York to give it that contemporary and relatable fantasy feel. It shows them constructing sets from scratch, mixing it up with plate shots, and a lot of the coordination that was required for the Chinatown shot in particular. "The Science of Sorcery" attempts to set some logical grounds for the magic seen throughout the movie by applying real-life facts, talk about historical distortion, advancements of technology, the ever-changing interpretations of believability over the years, and how it's all supposed to tie in to the plot for a more realistic concept. "Making Magic Real" delves into the film's effects with most of the emphasis being on the fact that they tried to get as much of it in-camera as opposed to using visual effects and post-production CG. A lot of it was actually very physical and down-to-earth through the use of stringed props, wire-rigged stunts, air cannons, and various controlled apparatuses. "Fantasia: Reinventing a Classic" gives a little background on the project as a whole with interviews from mostly Bruckheimer and Turteltaub, but a few of the other cast and crew. It's more so reminiscence based on everyone's experiences and viewings of the classic short in the original Fantasia but shows how excited they were to be part of this particular piece of Disney canon and lore. "The Fashionable Drake Stone" takes a quick peek at the bizarre and ostentatious costuming of Toby Kebbell's character. I don't know what it is about his role in the movie, but I personally got this David Bowie kind of vibe (who ironically played Nikola Tesla in The Prestige, another magic movie, whose connection is made via the Tesla Coils in this film). "The Encantus" shows us a little bit of the design that went into the book of spells. "The World's Coolest Car" makes us aware that the Rolls Royce used in the movie was indeed Cage's one-of-a-kind. And then there's some fluff on the wolves and an assortment of some pretty funny deleted scenes and outtakes. All in all, not bad for an hour's worth. Would've liked a P-i-P or audio commentary, but still decent.

Overall - 4.5

This movie caught me by surprise. I was pretty sure the production values would be through the roof with Turteltaub and Bruckheimer behind the project, but I didn't expect to find the overall screenplay and script as fun as it turned out to be. Compared to the other contemporary-set title of this genre from the year, Percy Jackson, I think having star power like Cage and Molina made just enough of a difference to bump this into the next level of modern-day fantasy films. With a reference level A/V presentation and a pretty decent set of extras, The Sorcerer's Apprentice comes highly recommended.

Nicholas Cage is awesome, as usual, but the surprise here is the young actor, Jay Baruchel, who plays the apprentice. His demonstrates some fine acting skills, along with his own special brand of charisma. How nice it was to actually go to a movie that was 'fun' for a change instead of just another ho hum attempt at entertainment. Just the right amount of special effects and several supporting characters that were very interesting, too. I would highly recommend this movie to any one age 7 or older. (I am basing that on what my grandsons like and can handle) Go watch it, you won't be disappointed.

I'll admit, I'm tough on movies. With today's budgets and technologies, movies should be good. Really good. Sadly, too many of them are just noisy and depressing (Iron Man 2), misfires (Alice in Wonderland) or just downright dumb (Clash of the Titans).

Oddly enough, though, two movies I've seen this summer have really impressed me, and both star Jay Baruchel (who had better enjoy his fifteen minutes). The first was How to Train Your Dragon, an excellent family film, and the second is The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which I had pretty low expectations of and only went to see mainly because I'm a big fan of Nicolas Cage.

Mainstream reviews of the movie were lackluster at best, but this time, the critics really missed the boat. This movie is a riot--big and noisy, true, but with a wonderful sense of humor and a definite ability not to take itself too seriously. The cast is nearly perfect, with Alfred Molina clearly enjoying himself as Horvath (the Bad Guy).

One of the joys of a movie like this is watching real professionals at work, and Cage and Molina make worthy adversaries, alternately blasting and taunting each other. Of course the music of Paul Dukas make an obligatory appearance in a sequence that I thought was a mere throwaway, but actually has a point that becomes clear later in the film...a nice touch indeed.

The movie looks great, moves well, has some genuine laughs, and makes me want to see it again. A great time to be had by all!

Another solid hit from Disney. Everything you would want in a fantasy adventure. Great story, directing, acting, music, and special effects. This should entertain the whole family. Nicholas Cage does a great job as Merlin's apprentice that has looked for a thousand years to find his own apprentice, capably played by Dave Baruchel (Is it me or does he make you think of a young Christian Slater?). Most the action takes place in the streets of current day New York City. I really felt comfortable with this one, it never goes over the top or out of bounds of believeable fantasy. Not heavy handed or brutal like far to many movies at this time. Disney needs to receive a pat on the back for a movie Walt Disney would be proud to release. Something that has been lacking in to many of Disney's films of late. It doesn't make you put your palm over your face and say "What were they thinking?". If you enjoyed this, be sure to catch Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

CA Luster

(Science nerd + Merlin's magic) == much fun

This is the ultimate nerd-power movie. On the one hand, you have the sorcerers of myth (major nerd fodder), and, on the other, a physics genius (more major nerd fodder). Does it get better (at least to us nerds)? Yes, it does! Throw Jay Baruchel in, and the Essence of Nerd is complete indeed.

For the uninitiated (non nerds) out there, there is still much to love about this film. The story is fun and, while the main character is the ultimate nerd (as I say, a physics buff as well as an arch magician), he's human too (in case you were wondering...). The plot has a smattering of fairly original bits, but its charm lies more in the enjoyable characters and fast-paced story than in its originality.

(spoilers)

Nicholas Cage plays Balthazar, a sorcerer who must find the heir to Merlin's powers. That, of course, is Jay Baruchel's character, Dave. Their first, ill-timed meeting, when Dave is 9, puts the future "Prime Merlinian" well and truly on the path to Nerdom, and costs him any shot at popularity (or, he thinks, the girl he's already in love with, Becky).
Fast forward ten years, and Dave is a physics genius...with no real life outside of his studies and experiments. Cue in the chance meeting with Becky, his childhood crush, and the prospect of a life outside of physics class seems more likely.
This, however, is complicated by the return of Balthazar, and his arch-rival, Horvath. Oh, and Horvath's little scheme to release Morgana from a one thousand year imprisonment and end the world.

(end spoilers)

The movie is exciting and fast-paced (a little too fast paced, at times, it seemed), and holds the viewer's interest very well. Nicholas Cage (whose acting I don't care much for generally) plays his part well; Jay Baruchel is fantastic, and makes his character's foibles believable; and the other actors/actresses are all very good as well. (I was amazed to find out that Horvath's goth-esque apprentice was the same actor who played the youngest of the three brothers in Prince of Persia -- Toby Kebbell...wow! I'm impressed by his ability to so easily transition between such very different roles). The story is hardly a work of art or genius, but it is a fun and enjoyable one. And, as I say, the ultimate nerd-power movie.

5/5 stars