Damn You Disney Magics!

Two days ago I saw The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Originally I had planned on releasing a review on the following day but I gave myself a little bit of time to think it over and collect my thoughts. Why? This is a summer movie, not just any summer movie but a Disney family/action title released in the middle of July. These are the kind of movies that require special tools with a practiced hand to critique. Luckily for you I am more than qualified.

Here’s the thing about summer movies, most of them are just stupid; they are bare bones action films that fill seats and get people out of the blistering summer weather to escape for two hours while they leave their brain baking on the dashboard of their car. This isn’t always a bad thing; stupid big budget ‘splosion fests can be really engaging. I don’t always want to test the merits of my English degree when I go into movies or sit down with a mental notepad scribbling down the deep characterizations and arcs that are taking place on screen. Every now and then it’s fun just to see cool things happen on screen with a cast of likable enthusiastic heroes. This isn’t an excuse for stupidity however; in fact one of my biggest pet peeves happens to be when people automatically give a golden star to the pre-school macaroni paintings mass produced by the Michael Bay Legion of Doom School of film making.

Take last summer for example, we had several titles released which failed to entertain me because they were trying to either be something much greater than what they were or spread themselves thin by grabbing for an enormous market. Wolverine, Terminator, and Transformers are all great examples of summer movies that cannot skate by on the “They’re just meant to be fun” excuse. Sloppy convoluted narrative, pretentious writing, insensitive characters that are completely alien to each other and the audience, it’s all there. The counter balance to these films was the lost gem of the 2009 summer movie season, G.I. Joe, a movie which clearly understood what being a big budget action film is all about: silliness, fun, and a light hearted sense of exploration. After much deliberation I feel confident in saying that Sorcerer’s Apprentice falls into that pleasant field of entertainment as G.I. Joe.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a pretty typical family adventure movie involving magic. Young boy is destined to save the world, he eventually stumbles upon his boon by accident, receives some tutelage from a mentor, struggles with his personal life, and in the end rises to the challenge to overcome the pure manifestation of evil. For anyone that has read about the Heroes’ Journey or studied the 20th century idea of the hero with a thousand faces will immediately be familiar with the plot. Heck, even if you haven’t studied this stuff you’ll probably pick up on it as this sort of prose constitutes the very fabric of human literature and floats around in the ether above our heads like some zeitgeist.

No, there’s nothing special here, but there doesn’t need to be. Disney is just offering you the very foundation for a traditional adventure revolving around an up and coming champion and they don’t bother to fill in all the grey areas with sex, pointless action sequences, or forced humor. Everything is natural and recognizable just as it should be.

By now you’re probably thinking, “If this is by the books, what makes it even worth watching?” Well the answer is pretty easy, the talent. Disney is a company that has tons of money and if need be they can move the money in just the right way to get everything running smoothly. This Sorcerer's Apprentice is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, co-produced by the person that did Pirates of the Caribbean (no I have no idea what his/her name is), and directed by the same bloke who churned out the National Treasure movies, Jon Turtletaub. Let’s look at all of these people, none of them are high-minded auteurs but they are pretty good at making popcorn entertainment. So when you mash the three of them together and gingerly sprinkle in some special effects, a recognizable story, and fun characters you get exactly what you need/pay for.

So what exactly is the premise behind this completely unoriginal tale? We the audience follow a young man Dave, played by Jay Baruchel, a college aged nerd who loves science but is plagued by a haunting memory. When he was much younger he stumbled across an ancient sorcerer named Balthazar, played by Nicolas Cage, who informed him that Dave was the Prime Merlinian, essentially the Kwisatz Haderach, who would defeat the evil Morgan La Fay and bring balance to Earth once and for all. Thanks to a little intervention by the film’s villain, whose shoes are filled by the always brilliant Alfred Molina, the destiny is called off for about 10 years on account of rain and a Deus Ex Machine urn and the boy spends the better part of a decade seeking psychiatric help. Well the 10 years pass and Dave’s destiny catches up with him, he must now learn how to harness his powers before Alfred Molina’s Horvath character can unleash the powerful Morgan La Fay and bring about the end of the world.

Yes, its cheesy, yes it’s pretty trite, but damn is it entertaining. More importantly, the characters are a joy. Jay Baruchel plays the awkward Jewish nerd as always and while his range as an actor is beginning to wear itself thin he still fits nicely into this movie. His nervousness and social ineptitude are befitting for a magician since, let's face it, they are the scholarly book worms of the fantasy universe always getting strung up the castle flag pole by their pantaloons. To my knowledge this is the first film where Jay Baruchel has had to carry the weight of an entire project on his shoulders as the lead man, but luckily he is being supported by Nicolas Cade who gives a dynamite performance. Cage is playing a man who doesn’t really belong in our modern era and as such the role allows him to do what Nick cage does best, be really weird and funny. The chemistry between these two is the foundation for the movie and why it holds up so well. Taking an up and coming actor and having him play off the talents of someone who is in many ways making a career come back is fascinating to watch. although the true screen gem in this film is the very force opposing them, Alfred Molina. Thank goodness the producers over at Disney were able to point a gun at Alfred Molina after he finished up Prince of Persia, forcing him to go across the studio lot and start filming this. Alfred Molina as Horvath the Morganian antagonist is a delight to see on screen. His charisma is something that I always look forward to in films and he’s practically dancing across the screen here.

All the supporting cast is regrettably forgettable, but I honestly couldn’t care less. In certain movies a decent supporting cast can do wonders but here its all just bland and unnecessary.

In terms of direction and visual flare the movie is effective. There were only a few spots that seemed a bit rushed or visually jarring but most of it is quickly forgotten once you get wrapped up in the amazing action sequences. In fact the only part of the movie that had me wanting to leave the theater was the very beginning. The opening three minute sequence is poorly done as it tries to organize the back story into a condensed filing cabinet when I feel like that kind of exposition should have been woven into the rest of the film in small doses. So if you are the type to judge a book by its cover be warned that you may have to struggle with that gut instinct to leave your chair fairly early on, but I can assure you that it picks up quickly. Before you know it you’ll be laughing at the simple yet effective comedy and being wowed by the over the top action sequences which truly are a lot of fun.

The biggest complaint that I have been hearing about this film stems from its source material. When I went into this I just assumed it was based on some popular children’s fantasy series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, or any of the other countless books getting adapted into screenplays these days (can you blame me?). As it turns out this movie is based on a very old Disney property. In fact I didn’t even realize it until much later, although there is a scene in this film which is a dead giveaway which had many critics rolling their eyes in disgust. Here’s the thing: the movie is so far removed from the source material that there is almost no connection whatsoever, so when the film makers finally decided to tear down that brick wall and throw the reference right into my face I saw it only as an homage and still could not fabricate any sort of demonstrable connection between the two intellectual entities. To me this is a brand new product with a brand new universe and I’d like to see more of it.

One other thing I’d like to mention is the product placement; after all, what Disney summer movie would be complete without it! Yes, there are a lot of ads, and while it is intrusive it never really has any lasting effect. When I hear the songs in this film that swell up and completely dominate scenes I recognize that these are probably fresh tunes playing on radio Disney currently, but by the time I leave the theater I had already forgotten them. Sure their presence is annoying but they become so superficial that they literally blend into the background much like the rampant advertisements that appear in major metropolitan billboards and electronic displays. Hell, I’ll even admit that there was one ad in this movie that got a pretty good laugh out of me, it’s for Magic the Gathering, something that I personally don’t care for but god damn was it funny within the context of the scene.

So yeah, Sorcerer’s Apprentice is by the books, it’s corporate, but it’s a lot of fun too. This isn’t going to be your favorite film of the summer, not by a long shot but it’s not a complete throw away either. I’m not going to tell you that this is something you have to see in theaters, because it’s not, but it is something you definitely want to pick up once it hits video or television. What can I say? The Mouse has gotten me again with its charm. Keep up the good work Nick Cage, keep it up.