Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ Conjures Little Magic

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CHICAGO – On a good day, Nicolas Cage can be one of the most exciting and enjoyable actors in the business. Whether he’s angrily reciting the alphabet in Robert Bierman’s 1988 satire “Vampire’s Kiss,” or hallucinating about iguanas in Werner Herzog’s 2009 comic masterpiece “The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” Cage has proven to be the most fun to watch when granted the opportunity to cut loose.

Unfortunately, Cage’s most profitable films have nearly always been his weakest, thanks to the master of commercial mediocrity, Jerry Bruckheimer. The man is incapable of producing a picture that doesn’t have his dumbed down thumbprint engraved on it. His so-called family entertainments are nothing more than watered down versions of his standard action blockbusters sold to adults, with a few cutesy in-jokes thrown in to give audiences the impression that they’re watching a Disney movie (a Buzz Lightyear alarm clock here, a magic lamp there).

HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0
Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a cheap buddy comedy masquerading as a live-action variation on the infamous segment from 1940’s “Fantasia,” in which Mickey Mouse played the apprentice to a wizard, and ended up bringing an army of mops to frightening life. Bruckheimer’s version substitutes Mickey with Jay Baruchel, the young comedian still best known for Judd Apatow’s terrific series, “Undeclared.” Fusing the everyman awkwardness of Ray Ramano and the nasally deadpan delivery of Adam Sandler into the same gawky body, Baruchel is a rather likable crowd-pleaser. Unfortunately the script gives his dweeby character little to do but gawk at fantastical events while spouting awful dialogue like, “Oh gawd…that’s not right…” and “Go Team Magical Stuff!” Baruchel plays Dave, a teenage loser who discovers he’s The Chosen One after fatefully encountering the formidable wizard Balthazar (Cage), who takes the kvetching lad under his wing. Cage previously collaborated with director Jon Turteltaub on the “National Treasure” pictures, which functioned as passable entertainment at best. “Apprentice” is certainly no improvement, but it’s also not nearly as dull as the last Bruckheimer/Disney effort, “Prince of Persia.”

Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina star in Jon Turteltaub’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina star in Jon Turteltaub’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

After his wonderfully demented work in “Kick Ass,” it’s disappointing to see Cage back in his detached, well-behaved mode. Bruckheimer seems to have forgotten what made his “Pirates” films so successful in the first place: Johnny Depp’s risk-taking, go-for-broke performance that scared studio executives to such a degree that they practically shelved the film altogether. Cage is certainly capable of that kind of audacity, but Turteltaub doesn’t allow his leading man to have any fun, casting him instead as the boorish straightman. Only a couple one-liners manage to hint as Cage’s potential. Peeved that his apprentice favors romance over work, Balthazar informs Dave’s date that he has to go into town to buy the young man some “anti-itch cream.”

It’s chiefly the playful cast (including Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer and Toby Kebbell) that makes “Apprentice” more watchable than it has a right to be. There’s also a few scattered moments of inspiration, such as a chase sequence involving morphing vehicles and a detour through a mirror. But the chase is also a prime example of the generic Bruckheimer touch, favoring familiar spectacle over quality storytelling. The plot is hopelessly convoluted (a sure sign of half-assed screenwriting), and merely pays lip service to the classic Mickey Mouse short in one brief sequence that is as forced as it is forgettable. Bruckheimer is never satisfied with just making a movie. He wants to make a franchise. But as with “Persia,” audiences didn’t flock to this one, partly because of the inflated ticket prices, and partly because they may have finally discovered that they deserve better.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Nov. 30, 2010.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on Nov. 30, 2010.
Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is presented in pristine 1080p High Definition (with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English, French, Spanish and Descriptive Video Service audio tracks, and includes a DVD and digital copy of the film. The BD Live-enabled disc includes six deleted scenes featuring a looser and more engaging Cage, who seems aware that his best bits will probably end up on the cutting room floor. The disc thankfully doesn’t include Disney’s usual visual commentary track, which accompanies the feature with hidden behind-the-scenes footage in tedious fashion. Instead, seven easily accessible making-of featurettes are included in the special features, and they are all reasonably diverting, even as the filmmakers blow scorchingly hot air.

It’s laughable to watch Bruckheimer pretend to be the least bit influenced by the masterful artistry of “Fantasia.” Turteltaub goes so far as to bill this film as a “re-telling” of the original “Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and says that it’s meant to be a bedtime story (it certainly inspires a few yawns). The most interesting aspect of the extras is the dissection of visual effects scenes that attempt to bring “magic” into a physically tangible realm, occasionally through in-camera effects. One of the tricks utilized by visual effects supervisors was to begin and end a shot in a space devoid of digital flourishes. Stunt coordinator George Ruge discusses his startling task of lighting Molina’s fingers on fire. Yet the creative bankruptcy of the filmmakers is apparent whenever they reveal how they came up the film’s ho-hum set-pieces. Watching the gargoyles on top of the Chrysler Building come to life is no more exciting than watching the mannequins come to life in “Night at the Museum” (this film might as well have been called “Night in Manhattan”). The film’s best special effect may have in fact been Baruchel, who is seen tirelessly flailing in front of the cameras, battered by invisible tormentors (he admits that physical comedy was the reason he got into acting). But it’s hard not to wince whenever the crew attempts to discuss their alleged inspiration. While explaining a particular set, production designer Naomi Shohan claims that it was meant to echo the “castle or turret or whatever it is in ‘Fantasia.’” Spoken like a true expert.

‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ is released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and stars Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Omar Benson Miller and Monica Bellucci. It was written by Matt Lopez, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernard and directed by John Turteltaub. It was released on Nov. 30th, 2010. It is rated PG.

HollywoodChicago.com staff writer Matt Fagerholm

By MATT FAGERHOLM
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
matt@hollywoodchicago.com

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