Movie Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Way back in 2003, Disney released a movie based on little more than a popular ride at Disney Land and its infectious chorus. (Yo, Ho! Yo, Ho! A pirate's life for me!) Three films and $2.68 billion later (that's billion with a b), the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise is still going strong, it's acceptable to say "Arrr" again, and Cap'n Jack Sparrow has joined the ranks of most popular Halloween costumes.

Now Disney is working the same magic with "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," a film loosely based on the Mickey Mouse and dancing brooms segment from "Fantasia." With such a skeletal beginning, the trick is to create story and characters that can fill a feature length film while still staying true to the spirit of the original inspiration. Disney does just that.

Jay Baruchel plays the apprentice Dave, a skinny, nerdy young man with the mark of destiny upon him. In a brief prologue, we learn that the famous medieval wizard Merlin's three assistants split up after his death. Two continued his notions of justice through wizardry but one, Horvath (Alfred Molina) turned to the evil wizardess Morgana(Alice Kirge). For a thousand years, Morgana has been locked inside a charm with Merlin's follower Veronica (Monica Belluchi). While Horvath seeks to free his mistress, the faithful assistant Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) searches for Merlin's successor, who will be the only one capable of defeating Morgana.

Wonder who that is?

Dave has been living the life of a shy but brilliant physics student, trying to overcome a childhood humiliation, and creating fabulous electrical art. His life is literally upturned when Balthazar and Horvath both find him. He plunges into wizard training while on the run from the forces of darkness, but still makes time to court his fellow student Becky (Teresa Palmer).

Cage and Baruchel strike a comfortable chemistry, with a nice juxtaposition of banter and affection between them. Baruchel's character, Dave, rife with humor and insecurity, copies the roles he played in two wildly dissimilar (except for him) films: "She's Out of My League" and, oddly enough, "How to Train Your Dragon." Baruchel's self-deprecating nerd with a heart of gold may be getting a little familiar, but it is still charming. For the time being.

The joy of this film is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, coupled with pretty cool special effects. Humor filters liberally through the creative, fast-paced action. When a Chinatown dragon comes to life and chases Dave or Balthazar morphs cars on the fly, into a corvette no less, it fires the imagination of what could be possible if only we had the capacity to make it happen. The recreated Fantasia scene is a delight and fits neatly into the film.

It all adds up to a fun family film that older kids and parents alike will enjoy. Rated PG for fantasy action violence, some mild rude humor and brief language, the movie will be too intense for little kids, but should be fine for older elementary school and junior high kids. Parents that have a problem with depictions of sorcery, however, should be aware that the final scene revolves around Morgana doing incantations that, while not intense, are dark in nature.

Coming after "Despicable Me" and the transcendent "Toy Story 3," this film is another solid addition to the list of summer family films. While blockbusters aimed at older audiences have been disappointing so far this summer, the family film genre keeps humming along, thankfully. We parents need something to keep the mid-July wiggles at bay.