“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” Conjures Up a Hit

Mickey Mouse makes a mop come alive in "Fantasia."

I was reading a movie review of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by a 25-year-oldish critic who wrote, “Most people are going to be surprised at how the film references the classic ‘Fantasia,’ one of my favorite films of all time.” Then he gave the film a two-star rating out of five.

Would he have liked the movie better if he had realized that the referenced part of “Fantasia” was called “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”? For goodness sakes, it’s a Walt Disney production! I’m flinging a sorcerer’s plasma ball filled with “duh” at that critic!

Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) interacts with Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel).

We saw “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” at our usual $5 pre-noon showing yesterday, and all four of us (the Mister, me, our #1 son, and our “third son,” Chase . . . #2 opted to sleep in) really liked it. It’s well worth the price of admission. The action was great, using computer-generated imagery to the point where it almost looked real. I especially liked how science and magic go hand in hand in the film. Almost makes me wish I had taken physics in high school or college. Almost!

Bad sorcerer Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina) likes to play with fire.

The acting really was top-notch. We’ve enjoyed most of Nicolas Cage’s movies, while Alfred Molina always plays a great bad guy. Yes, it’s that classic good (Cage’s sorcerer Balthazar Blake) vs. evil (Molina’s sorcerer Maxim Horvath) struggle that has moviegoers always rooting for the good guys while enjoying the bad guy’s antics.

Jay Baruchel, who is Balthazar’s apprentice, once again is cast as the nerdy, can’t-believe-a-pretty-girl-likes-me guy that he played in “She’s Out of My League.” He’s a good-enough actor that I hope he breaks through that typecasting and moves on to better movie roles.

Here’s hoping he conjures up more hits like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice!”