THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE 3/4
Walt Disney Pictures, Rated PG
A bracing brew of a supernatural kid flick stirring in all the magical ingredients for casting a spell over audiences, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice wields its charms by talking to children without talking down to them.
[popup url=”http://assets.longislandpress.com/photos/gallery.php?gazpart=view&gazimage=5642″]
Click here to view more photos from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice[/popup]
Nicolas Cage, an on-camera wizard in his own right, moves on from Bad Lieutenant and Kick-Ass to yet another questionable adult role model—a warlock who can turn killer wolves into puppies when necessary. Cage plays thousand-year-old Balthazar Blake, who takes to stalking the humiliated youngster Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a matriculated geek at NYU. Balthazar believes Dave’s got the DNA to help him out of a supernatural crisis of biblical proportions. But the college whiz and social outcast just wants to be left alone to major in physics and fixate on more shallow stuff, like pursuing the major hottie coed of his dreams (Teresa Palmer).
Nicolas Cage (L.) and Alfred Molina in The Sorcerer's Apprentice
However, Balthazar’s bargain shapes up as one of those offers you can’t refuse, and with evil sorcerer Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) out to extinguish both of them in order to enslave humankind, Dave reluctantly joins forces with Balthazar.
Director Jon Turteltaub (the National Treasure series) weaves his own brand of hocus pocus wizardry that never seems less than real, with noir-ish New York City sets enhancing the lavishly sinister atmosphere. Add to that Cage’s potent charisma, which has no problem upstaging Baruchel terrified wimp of a character at every turn.
All in all, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice does for kids what the majority of movies aimed at them fail. That’s because, for a refreshing change, the film packages malevolence as enchanting razzle-dazzle instead of mean spirited or moronic gore and opts for reading minds rather than smashing them to bits.
