Movie review in the Wednesday, July 14 Oregonian....
Confession: I look forward to every single Nicolas Cage movie -- because no matter the quality of the film itself, there's always a chance Cage will do (or wear) something awesomely ridiculous. And he will do (or wear) it with total, unapologetic, goofy commitment.
Case in point: several moments in the formulaic but surprisingly entertaining family flick "The Sorcerer's Apprentice."
In the film, Mr. Cage plays a centuries-old wizard -- an apprentice of Merlin himself -- who now spends his time doing three things: (a) mourning his lost love (Monica Bellucci); (b) guarding a magic nesting doll that traps history's wickedest warlocks; and (c) looking for "The Prime Merlinian," a boy blessed with a magical destiny blah blah blah etc. and so forth.
Cage doesn't ascend to the cackling-mad heights of "Wicker Man," "Vampire's Kiss" or "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" here, but he does choose to yell "I can read minds!" at an inappropriate volume. And he has a lot of deadpan fun messing with the head of his apprentice, the Prime Merlinian-in-training -- a physics-nerd college student (Jay Baruchel) with a crush on the least-alternative college-radio DJ in movie history (Teresa Palmer). Cage also rocks a wardrobe I half-hope he designed himself, which includes a flared-out rawhide trenchcoat, ridiculous hat, and what appear to be leg-warmers on his arms.
Oh, and the rest of the movie's not too bad, either.
"Apprentice" is directed by Jon Turteltaub, who previously collaborated with Cage on the "National Treasure" movies, which are basically "History Detectives" episodes with gunplay. Turteltaub has a workmanlike touch and an easy sense of humor here, and he and his team do a better-than-expected job of keeping you interested in the story, despite it being yet another Tale of a Reluctant Young Man With A Supernatural Hero's Calling™.
The film (mostly) plays because it's (mostly) charming in the details. Cage and Baruchel have a lot of fun together, even if Baruchel's nervous-dork routine is starting to wear thin; he's a good actor I'd like to see stretch a bit. Alfred Molina plays a villainous rival sorcerer as a seen-it-all dandy forever suffering fools, including his own apprentice, a fame-obsessed showboat magician (Toby Kebbell) clearly modeled on Criss Angel. I also enjoyed the film's pseudo-scientific "explanation" of how magic works, and expect it will inspire many children to ask their parents for Tesla coils. And the sorcery special effects are pretty well-done -- particularly when characters are magically cast into a mirror-universe or chased by a dragon come to life in a lovely, confetti-strewn Chinatown set piece.
(Oh, and yes, they do manage to work in the briefest nod to the Mickey Mouse "Fantasia" sequence, which was itself a nod to the 1797 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe poem.)
I suppose I could call out "Sorcerer's Apprentice" for all sorts of modest dramatic misdeeds. The ability to conjure anything-goes magic spells at any time means the movie's more concerned with wowing you than it is with rules-based dramatic tension. There's a car chase where the already-established ability to levitate objects is never employed, even when it would prove incredibly useful. There are several wizard-on-wizard battles that end with Cage or Molina simply letting the other get away, even when the fate of the world is clearly at stake. And the Baruchel/Palmer romance is as generic as the supposedly "indie" music she spins.
But the movie is still enough of an all-ages good time, anchored by just enough mainstream-grade Nic Cage loopiness, that somehow those criticisms feel like nitpicking. I'm guessing your kids will lightly dig this thing.
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(108 min., rated PG) Grade: B-minus
'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' (The Oregonian, Wednesday, July 14, 2010)
"It's So Fluffy I could Die" I was thinking about seeing this as the trailer looked good... this sealed the deal, thanks for the (spoiler free) review
Posted by: The Sorcerer's Apprentice | July 19, 2010 at 11:00 PM