Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The MPAA Rating: PG Entertainment: +2 Content: +2

Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Monica Bellucci, Toby Kebbell. Comedy adventure. Written by Matt Lopez and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard. Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Produced by action-vet Jerry Bruckheimer.

FILM SNYOPSIS: Walt Disney Studios, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub, the creators of the National Treasure franchise, present this comedy adventure about a sorcerer and his hapless apprentice who are swept into the center of an ancient conflict between good and evil. Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a nerdy guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness.

PREVIEW REVIEW: As we film reviewers leave press screenings, we’re asked by studio publicists what we thought about the films. It’s one of the worse parts of my job. They’re nice people and they are asking me for what is merely an opinion. But critics and publicists are professionals and we live in a moderately benign association. With The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, I had to shrug my shoulders at the question, and tell the publicist I’d seen it a hundred times. Evil sorcerers vs. good sorcerers tossing CGI fireballs at one another, while some dorky kid manages to save the day and get the hottie girl.

Essentially, each summer epic action blockbuster contains the same content – comic book characterizations and cartoonish violence (little blood, but lots of explosions, chases and body slams). As I’ve said, I’ve seen it all before and very often from the flashy producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Mr. Bruckheimer has done well with Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun and Bad Boys, but lately, he’s a hit-and-miss producer (Black Hawk Down and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl being extremely well made, Gone in Sixty Seconds, King Arthur somewhat lacking). Though some of his films lacked much substance (Coyote Ugly), he always managed to incorporate style (Flashdance). It can be said that he has a hand on the pulse of the movie-going public, but it can also be said that he puts the pursuit of the almighty buck before style or substance. Okay, that’s a producer’s job, but often moviegoers are cheated when moviemaking becomes top heavy with action, the other story elements being ignored.

In this past couple of decades, Jerry Bruckheimer has been counted on to fill his films with action, action, action. And what I must keep in mind is that each summer a new batch of 14-year-old boys come along, and they haven’t seen this type of film a hundred times. Only 50 times. They love it and they are used it. And they don’t look to films for character or plot development. I understand. I’m not quite sure why these films are so beloved by older folk, but mine is not to reason why…

There are a few entertaining moments in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and we at the screening got a kick out of the one moment this live-action film duplicated Mickey Mouse’s frustrating encounter with Fantasia’s enchanted cleaning supplies. What’s more, it’s a clean film where the good sorcerers beat the bad sorcerers and the geeky kid gets the girl. But while it’s loud and antic-filled, it wasn’t much fun. I preferred the following action-packed adventures: Iron Man because of its wit, its expert use of effects, and the incorporation of a moral, Batman Begins for its allegorical parable about how easy it is to be charmed and deceived by the dark side, while also holding us captive with well-staged action sequences, and Bullitt, because no one was ever cooler than Steve McQueen in that film, and no computer-generated effects were used in the best car chase of all time.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Disney Studios