The Sorcerer's Apprentice Review

I was not expecting much from director Jon Turteltaub. He previously directed National Treasure and 3 Ninjas, and as I feared, if you mix the two films together and add some magick, you pretty much have The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Dave, a young kid who wonders into an antique shop, happens to meet a sorcerer named Balthazar Blake. Dave later becomes the sorcerer's apprentice, where he is given a crash course lesson on sorcery and has to ready himself to stop the villain, Maxim Horvath, from destroying the world. In his free time, Dave basically stalks his childhood crush, Becky, who is definitely out of his league.

Nicolas Cage plays our master sorcerer, Balthazar Blake, and is the only actor that seems to fit his character at all. Cage plays an excellent sorcerer, and really brings the action to life with the way he moves his hands. Cage's acting is the only thing that kept me watching through most of the film, but he did seem to just give up at the end.

Jay Baruchel had to be the worst pick to play Dave, the apprentice.



I would have been happier with Steve Urkel taking that role, and not the one kid Urkel would have picked on. Although, Baruchel did slightly start to get his act together at the end of the movie, it was not near enough to drag him out of the hole he had already dug. The only other cast member who catches your eye is Teresa Palmer, who plays Becky. Palmer seems to be next in line behind cage on the talent scale in this film, and she is pretty damn good looking to boot.

That leaves us with Alfred Molina playing Maxim Horvath, the bad guy. Having playing Dr. Octopus in Spider Man 2, you would think Molina would be able to pull off a decent villain, but he somehow figured out how to bring Mr. Rogers into the mix. Molina's character name, pronounced "whore bath", every time it was said, did get a small chuckle out of me.

The special effects were decent and a scene from a classic Disney musical is good for a smile, but really Nicolas Cage is the only thing making this movie watchable at all. The Sorcerer's Apprentice is not a bad watch if you're a hardcore Nicolas Cage fan or you're just in the mood for something goofy. The movie is worth a watch, but I would definitely put it at the end of your list of movies to see.