SummaryBalthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art a...
SummaryBalthazar Blake is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath. Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler, a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art a...
A tamer tale of supernatural shenanigans that is far more appropriate for young children than the sometimes too-scary scenes from J.K. Rowling's stories.
Turteltaub strives to show us realistic-looking magic, without realizing he'd be better off if he acknowledged that there's no such thing. Instead, we get human figures that emerge "magically" from swarms of cockroaches and sorceresses who dissolve into dust particles right before our eyes. It's the best CGI money can buy, and who cares?
This is very much a modern day movie but with one scene harking back to the famous sorcerors apprentice scene/section from Disney's classic Fantasia. Fantasia is much more child friendly than this movie in terms of being suitable for younger children, this movie I'd imagine would be pretty scary to toddlers and younger children below the age of eight or nine at least - the special effects are quite convincing, with one involving lots of insects (I think they were ****) coming together and forming the villain (a bit like the sort of thing that featured in The Mummy, I suppose, though its not quite as scary as that, I *think* The Mummy is a 12 rate and this film is only rated PG), things like that would have scared me as a very young child.
Away from that issue, the movie itself felt perhaps a little limp, even perhaps forced at the start, after an introduction to the background of Balthazar, his story, the history that paints the scene before we rejoin our reluctant hero in the present day but as it progresses, it becomes more engrossing - yes its very much a fantasy movie, you just have to go with the story but then I really can't lower my score for this movie because of this, I mean obviously the title gives a decent clue as to the type of movie it is and its Disney, plus for its target market I don't think they've gone too far wrong, though I may find it a bit cheesy that there's the inevitable sub-plot with Dave becoming romantically involved with a girl (or desperately trying to, as he's seen as the rather socially awkward out cast, which is the norm for these movies), which again might put off younger kids who'd be bored with such a sub-plot (or think its gross that he likes a girl hehe), eh its the usual Disney fodder I suppose but I felt that overall it was a pretty solid movie, for what it is and most importantly, I was really quite engrossed in the ending, I found it quite entertaining and thought it featured some impressive scenes along the way.
If your familiar with the two National Treasure movies which Nicolas Cage also played a lead role in, then this movie will perhaps seem similar and its not just because Cage appears in it but also because Jon Turteltaub directed all three movies. I would say that as a comparison, in this movie the emphasis is more on Jay Baruchel as Dave than Nicolas Cage as Balthazar. I wonder what it is with New York somehow ending up being the place where there's supposedly so much nasty supernatural activity and the ability to summon up evil just happens to lie dormant? thinking about it, I'm reminded of the Ghostbusters movies which of course were similar, especially i think it was the sequel involving an evil possessed painting and a baby - in this movie the baby is of course love struck and rather unassuming Dave - the good ol' reluctant hero.
There are some fairly fast action scenes and these are what, to me, made the movie - the storyline is perhaps a bit complicated to follow and there are some scenes which break up the faster action scenes, ie dialogue based scenes, which is another reason why I suppose younger children wouldn't necessarily enjoy this movie but its good that there's a balance between plot and visual effects. My favourite scene involves a long car chase which is very engrossing and even features a magic mirror trick, whereby Dave and Balthazar end up in a parallel version of the same road they were on before, only in this one everything is back to front I think, which made for a pretty cool effect seeing all the billboards etc. back to front.
This is a Disney fantasy movie set in modern times (well 2010 anyway), so its pretty much what you'd expect and for that, I can't really fault it, so I'm going to be generous and give it the maximum star score as I felt overall I really quite enjoyed it and although I was perhaps a bit sceptical about the storyline at first, by the end I felt gripped and I certainly thought it was entertaining with some good effects, so I can't really complain, for me its a very good movie of its type.
Being somebody who hasn't read the books I wasn't sure what to make of this film. I am a Nick Cage fan though I have been disappointed with a bunch of his newer movies. Overall though I really felt like this movie kind of got a bum ****. The characters are all likable even one of the villains is an extremely fun character. The plot movies along okay even though it kind of peters off at the end into the normal Hollywood ending. If I had seen this in theaters I probably would have been disappointed to drop 10 bucks on it but renting it I really felt satisfied, overall a pretty good watch
The movie is a clunky, noisy contraption. Director Jon Turteltaub piles on gadgets and devices in the hopes we'll be dazzled enough to miss the story's lack of coherence and charm.
A two-hour trailer: explosion, shape-shift, chase, wisecrack, repeat. Its most amazing trick will be how it vanishes from your memory before the seat you vacate has stopped moving.
BUY THIS! It's an epic movie. Excellent soundtrack, presentation, story and drama. The acting might have been slightly predictable at times but Cage was very good. Overall I'll give it a 10.
What? A Nicolas Cage movie from the 2010's that's actually decent? Well, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" might just be that film. It won't win any Oscars, but it is just entertaining enough for us to slightly forgive all the holes and flaws.
Nicholas Cage is what saves "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from being a disaster. His character, Balthazar, is well portrayed. The problem with this film is that the magic doesn't seem like "Harry Potter". It's more like machine-generated and doesn't have the craft and style like "Harry Potter".
I left on the middle of the movie, but! If the second half was like the first one, then the movie ****. The characters are so annoying it hurts and Nicolas should choose better movies, I mean, he's a talented actor, he won an Academy Award for god's sake! I really don't like the movie. Sorry, but it just doesn't work for me.
uuu special effects
soundtrack bad
story bad
overall movie: extremely bad
If you are under 12 I understand why you would like this though.
Airbender was close to this one also.