Just not magical!

Grade: C

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Indian Release Date: 16/07/10
CBFC Classification: U
Running Length: 1 Hour 49 Minutes

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Monica Bellucci, Alice Krige
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Screenplay: Matt Lopez and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard
Cinematography: Bojan Bazelli
Music: Trevor Rabin

One of the best compliments I can bestow upon ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ is that it is nowhere close to as bad as ‘Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief’ nor as bad as ‘The Last Airbender’ & is definitely much better than that other Jerry Bruckheimer summer monstrosity, ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’. Though make it stand against even the worst of the ‘Harry Potter’ movies & it’ll come crashing down like a deck of cards. Much like director Jon Turteltaub’s two ‘National Treasure’ movies were poor cousins of the ‘Indiana Jones’ movies, his ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ is similarly related to the ‘Harry Potter’ movies.

Actually when Disney cancelled the movie’s screening for the press here in India, alarm bells went off almost instantly in my head. When I did finally watch the movie, I have to say it rose above those impossibly low expectations & unfortunately that is always the problem with low expectations, it can make almost any crap tolerable even if the slightest redeemable quality can be spotted.

‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ draws it’s inspiration from one of the sections in Disney’s 1940 animated feature ‘Fantasia’; which itself drew inspiration from a poem, called ‘Der Zauberlehrling’ (translates as ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ in English) by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1797. The inspiration for this movie does not quite end at that either. There is this almost unheard of South African movie uncannily named ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (2002) which shares more than a few similarities including plot & characters with this movie; Hmmm and to wonder that Disney’s P.R. machinery would like us to believe that Nicholas Cage came up with the idea for this flick.

The movie kicks off with a prologue set in the year 740 AD where the old and wise Merlin (yes that Merlin, the original one) battles the evil sorceress Morgana le Fay (Alice Krige). Of Merlin’s three disciples, Balthazar (Nicholas Cage), Veronica (Monica Bellucci) & Horvath (Alfred Molina), Horvath turns to the dark side and joins forces with Morgana. In the battle that ensues, Merlin is mortally wounded while Veronica sacrifices herself to trap Morgana’s soul in a Grimhold (something like a nesting doll). Merlin hands Balthazar the duty of locating the Prime Merlinian (yes, even I thought the name sounded ridiculous), the one descendant of Merlin who will be able to wield the Dragon Ring & defeat Morgana once and for all.

For centuries Balthazar keeps searching and then in the year 2000 finds the Prime Merlinian in New York, in the form of a ten year old kid, Dave. Unfortunately before he can educate the boy, Horvath shows up & in the ensuing fight between the two sorcerers get trapped in another vase. Cut to ten years later, when Dave (Jay Baruchel) is a socially inept and geeky physics nerd. He’s however never forgotten the day he met Balthazar & still keeps the Dragon Ring in his dresser drawer. Since the movie cannot move forward without Cage nor Molina, Horvath & Balthazar are released from the vase. Horvath tries to get his hands on the Grimhold so that he can free Morgana and she can bring about the destruction of mankind by some evil spell that will awaken an undead army of Morganian (followers of Morgana) sorcerers. Balthazar knows that Dave is the key to save the world and thus he starts training him in the art of sorcery; however sorcery is not Dave’s priority. Becky (Teresa Palmer), Dave’s childhood sweetheart who’s come into his life after ten years is the distraction that Balthazar doesn’t want Dave to have during his training. With all the plot-devices firmly in place, the movie speeds towards the inevitable showdown between good & evil & also finds time to leave the door open for a sequel.

The biggest failing of the movie is its lack of ability to pull the audience into the fantasy world it creates. There are rules, there are ideas & nearly everything needed to setup this flight of fantasy. But the movie is more concerned with moving on as soon as it can to the action sequences or the listless slapstick humor or the charmless romance between Dave & Becky. Every successful fantasy movie has themes & ideals which intertwine with the fates of the characters. If the audience can pick up on these ideas then they can connect with the characters, which make us care about them in the long run.

There’s nary a dull moment with something or the other constantly happening but there’s very little interesting or unpredictable happening either. Plus some parts of the story do not make any sense. Why in the world should there be a car chase when these sorcerers are so powerful that they can take any form they want? Shouldn’t they be flying or something? Dave after a few unsuccessful lessons from Balthazar learns how to perform magic without the ring? This was truly a “shake-my-head-in-disbelief” moment since his training wasn’t even close to complete nor did he ever show enough self-confidence to pull it off. Why am I even questioning logic or reasoning in a movie that has the Wall Street Bull come alive & nearly gore Nicholas Cage to death. The movie is rife with plot-holes & inconsistencies and if you are going to watch it, I’d rather leave it upto you to figure them out.  

The pace is brisk & the editing is sharp in most places. The special effects are neatly done though the Dragon did not exactly look very convincing. The C.G.I. driven climax generates a fleeting thrill which evaporates the moment we get to the big showdown between the Prime Merlinian & Morgana.

I feel bad for Nicholas Cage & Alfred Molina because they are easily the only things that the movie has going for itself. Nicholas Cage’s usual laidback demeanor works like a charm here, he’s utterly convincing as the cool & vastly experienced master Sorcerer. The movie’s best joke involves a pair of shoes & the look on Cage’s face is simply priceless. Alfred Molina on the other hand is appearing in yet another underwhelming Jerry Bruckheimer movie this year along with ‘Prince of Persia: Sands of Time’ & much like that movie there’s little to complain about his performance here. There’s no frothing at the mouth or sneering, it’s all a sadistically cheeky with a hint of impatience characterization, which makes you never want to meet Horvath in an empty alley.

Jay Baruchel (‘How to Train Your Dragon’) on the other hand is simply miscast. He’s been the perfect supporting guy in many movies & even pulled off the “low-on-confidence” lead role in ‘She’s Out of My League’ (2010) perfectly but the role here needed someone with just a little more charm so that his transformation seems convincing. We do not get to see enough of Monica Belluci nor Alice Krige (not that I wanted to see any of Krige). Toby Kebbell like Molina was there in ‘Prince of Persia’, though his role here is far flashier. Teresa Palmer is onboard purely as eye-candy, nothing more.          

Inspite of picking inspiration from multiple sources, the final product is so uninspired & dull that it makes you wonder what kind of effort went behind making it. If not for a joke or two here & there, or a few well special-effects & classy performances from Molina & Cage; this could have easily been swimming at the bottom of the barrel. However the biggest mistake ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ made was to release on the 16th of July 2010, the same day a really magical movie came out, ‘Inception’. Why watch fake magic when you can be part of the real thing!

Final Verdict: Simply not enchanting enough.

Grade: C

- Movie Reviewed by Danish Bagdadi

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