First Hit: The story isn’t terribly new nor is the dialogue particularly interesting but it has its charm.
The name of the film brings up fantasies of the enormously beautiful and powerful 1940’s film "Fantasia" by Walt Disney.
I didn’t sleep for days after watching "Fantasia" because of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” segment where Mickey gets in trouble with the magic broom. Those brooms popping out of nowhere and multiplying as Mickey tried to stop them with his hatchet is unforgettable.
Alas, here we are with Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake a man who is a direct apprentice of Merlin. He is here to find the next in line to Merlin’s throne and the person who will keep the evil wizards, who are stuck in a Russian doll, from coming back to life and destroying the world.
Balthazar finds Dave (played by Jay Baruchel) who fits the bill when the special ring left by Merlin fits him. Being skeptical, Dave finds Balthazar a bit eccentric but soon learns that he’s on to something big.
The film takes us through Dave’s disbelief, acceptance, promotion, and finally conquering the evil forces within himself and the ones trying to destroy the world. Much of the film is overdone, the dialogue trite, but there are nice and fun segments including a tip of the hat to Mickey’s magic broom sequence.
Cage is very dramatic adding fun and life to the character and the film. Baruchel is good enough to make his character work and geeky enough to be believable. Teresa Palmer as Becky Barnes is OK but I couldn’t buy her caring about Baruchel’s character. Alfred Molina as head evil apprentice, Maxim Horvath, full of life and fun to watch. His scenes are entertaining to say the least. Director Jon Turteltaub spent too much time giving Producer Jerry Bruckheimer big effects. I think there was a better film somewhere than what was produced.
Overall: This film is entertaining, has some nice, if not overdone, special effects, and keeps one minimally satisfied throughout its 109 minutes.