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The Sorcerer's Apprentice Review

The Sorcerer's Apprentice was a perfect example of how the telling of a story can be more important than the story itself. On paper, the story seems like a laundry list of clichés: we have the reluctant hero who's gifts make him an outcast (Jay Baruchel as Dave Stutler), the wise mentor who lost everything (Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake), the dastardly villain who threatens the world with an allegiance to a more powerful evil (Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath), we have the beautiful heroine who sees the potential within the hero (Teresa Palmer as Becky Barnes), and so on. It really doesn't get much more by-the-numbers than that. But Apprentice manages to exceed all expectations, based almost solely on the strength of the characters.

The actors deserve the bulk of the credit for Apprentice's success: Jay Baruchel takes what could be the most annoying hero ever and instead imbues Dave with a genuine heart and likable personality that has you rooting for him when he's winning and sympathizing with him when he's down. Nicholas Cage finds the perfect balance between slave-driver and cheerleader in a role that should have gone one way or the other. Alfred Molina has the villain thing down pretty well after all these years, so it's no surprise that Horvath comes across with the perfect intelligent menace. Even the "damsel in distress" feels like a real, whole, and welcome addition thanks to Teresa Palmer.

The writers and director Jon Turteltaub deserve some credit here as well. Exposition is minimal, and the overall story flows very well. The fight scenes are well-choreographed and filmed beautifully, allowing us to really enjoy what is going on, and the special effects are used perfectly.

I was glad to see that Apprentice rose above the "bare minimum," and delivered a movie that was really quite good. Although it may not be the best movie of the year, it's certainly a solid entry and a great movie to enjoy with the whole family.

Collector/Modeler Interest:
Some great options here: the Mercedes SLR and Ferrari F430 used in the chase are both available in diecast and plastic, the Pinto is available from Motor Max, and Balthazar's Rolls-Royce can be made using Italeri's '34 as a base.


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