The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
Well, apparently fantasy movies are "in" these days (finally!) which means that I get more options that I'm pretty sure I'll find at least "fun" when going out to the movies. This time le film du jour was The Sorcerer's Apprentice, based loosely on the sequence in Fantasia that uses music of the same title. Ironically, the first thing that the opening music brought to mind was the overture to Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream... And the visuals were pretty (as usual these days).
I suppose my major grumble is the oversimplicity of the plot. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but it seemed a bit as if the filmmakers aimed for the 15-20 year old range, missed and landed right on target for someone closer to ten. This seemed a little incongruous with a protagonist of university age. Maybe I'm just starting to get old and jaded. The story is best summed up as "nerdy boy with a destiny to save the world tries to impress cute girl in the process." Not exactly the most clever of plots but I already groused about that. Magic is explained away as soft science electrical phenomena that sorcerers can focus through rings and innate ability. I would have enjoyed the plot better if Dave had been in high school or just starting college.
For the most part the characters are what made the movie for me. I liked the similarities between Balthazar and Dave in the "lack of social skills" department, although I felt that Nicholas Cage did a better job of his character overall (although I think someone in costuming had been reading a lot of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books). Dave's voice just grated on me the entire time and his character overall seemed to stray too far into the realm of cliche "socially inept nerd." It just felt like anybody who understood physics that well should have some concept that stuff that that involves big heavy books will require lots of studying. I also could have used a tie in for Becky in addition to her status as "protagonist love interest."Fortunately, everyone else was completely worth watching. The bad guys were fun and smart but rather "meh" in the motivation department (Seriously, why is "destroying the world" such a popular pastime? Do they all hate themselves that much?). If there had been more focus on Balthazar and Horvath I might have been more entertained over the course of the movie, if only because they were the major driving force behind the narrative and had most of the better lines.
I will admit that I laughed most of the times that I facepalmed and that the movie does have its moments. It seems very like a children's movie (despite the age of the main character) and it certainly does some banking on an older audience's nostalgia. It seems like a good rental film rather than an afternoon diversion though.
I suppose my major grumble is the oversimplicity of the plot. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but it seemed a bit as if the filmmakers aimed for the 15-20 year old range, missed and landed right on target for someone closer to ten. This seemed a little incongruous with a protagonist of university age. Maybe I'm just starting to get old and jaded. The story is best summed up as "nerdy boy with a destiny to save the world tries to impress cute girl in the process." Not exactly the most clever of plots but I already groused about that. Magic is explained away as soft science electrical phenomena that sorcerers can focus through rings and innate ability. I would have enjoyed the plot better if Dave had been in high school or just starting college.
For the most part the characters are what made the movie for me. I liked the similarities between Balthazar and Dave in the "lack of social skills" department, although I felt that Nicholas Cage did a better job of his character overall (although I think someone in costuming had been reading a lot of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books). Dave's voice just grated on me the entire time and his character overall seemed to stray too far into the realm of cliche "socially inept nerd." It just felt like anybody who understood physics that well should have some concept that stuff that that involves big heavy books will require lots of studying. I also could have used a tie in for Becky in addition to her status as "protagonist love interest."Fortunately, everyone else was completely worth watching. The bad guys were fun and smart but rather "meh" in the motivation department (Seriously, why is "destroying the world" such a popular pastime? Do they all hate themselves that much?). If there had been more focus on Balthazar and Horvath I might have been more entertained over the course of the movie, if only because they were the major driving force behind the narrative and had most of the better lines.
I will admit that I laughed most of the times that I facepalmed and that the movie does have its moments. It seems very like a children's movie (despite the age of the main character) and it certainly does some banking on an older audience's nostalgia. It seems like a good rental film rather than an afternoon diversion though.