‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ Wasn’t That Bad (Or Good)

Like Prince of Persia (2010), I had completely forgotten that The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010) existed. (Apparently, 2010 was the year for forgettable live-action Disney films.) The only thing I remembered about the film was when David (Jay Baruchel) was training to be a sorcerer and a ball of energy hits him in the crotch. Needless to say, I had pretty low expectations for the re-watch.

I was both pleasantly surprised and unimpressed. It was more exciting than I remember, but it also wasn’t as overwhelming as I had hoped it would be. It was, for all intents and purposes, a film — and that’s it. Like Avatar (2009), the good and the bad sort of cancel each other out to make an okay movie, only in this case, more forgettable.

Get the Basics

Alright, let’s nail down the plot before we do anything. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is about Dave (Baruchel), a young boy in New York who is destined for greatness as the spawn of Merlin or whatever. He runs into Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) — one of Merlin’s apprentices — on a school field trip, who entrusts him with a special dragon ring that gives him magical powers. But then Horvath (Alfred Molina) — one of Merlin’s apprentices who is evil and wants to resurrect Merlin’s third and even more evil apprentice, Morgana la Fée (Monica Belluci) — shows up. After a short scuffle, both him and Balthazar end up getting trapped in an urn for 10 years.

10 years later, Dave is an awkward yet stupid smart college student. Balthazar shows back up and convinces Dave to train to be a sorcerer. This is a difficult task because Dave is in love with Becky (Teresa Palmer) and also because magic is scary. But Dave ends up accepting his training and he becomes the greatest sorcerer that ever lived, defeating Morgana so he and his girlfriend can live happily ever after.

A Cast Made in Hell

I have no idea why this cast exists, but it does so we have to analyze that. First of all, we have Nicolas Cage…as a sorcerer? That’s strange enough, but then we also have Monica Belluci and Alfred Molina as sorcerers, too? What a strange team (or rivalry, as the case may be). None of them are super convincing in their roles either. They never break into the role and so they all just feel like actors playing roles rather than the characters themselves. Yeah, it’s a mediocre Disney film, but that doesn’t give you the right to just phone it in. I think the only person I could halfway see being a real sorcerer is Nicolas Cage, and that’s just because he’s Nicolas Cage.

And then we have Jay Baruchel playing himself. Just awkward, nerdy, and kind of out-of-place in everything he is in. Oh, and also that one kid from Night at the Museum (2006). We get to make fun of him the whole movie because he peed his pants. Classic Jake Cherry.

Cut That Out (Get it? Editing!)

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice has some of the strangest editing in certain parts. I think the weirdest sequence is in the beginning when the narrator is telling us the story of Merlin and his three apprentices. It felt like a bad, unused cut in The Mummy. Everything was choppy and there were some strange zooms every so often. I really had no idea what was happening but it was certainly headache-inducing.

The rest of the film wasn’t too bad, though. The CGI wasn’t terrible or amazing — it just did its job. I was a big fan of the cool spells that allowed you to walk into mirrors. The water-like effect used for that transition was mesmerizing.

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