The Sorcerer's Apprentice

In this good-versus-evil morality tale from director Jon Turteltaub and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a prologue explains how some 1,300 years ago the Arthurian magician Merlin (James A. Stephens) battled with evil Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige), trapping her in a nested-doll-like container, which has been carefully guarded ever since by his disciple, Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage). Fast-forward to 2000, when Balthazar encounters 10-year-old Dave Stutler (Jake Cherry), and senses that the boy may be the long-awaited “Prime Merlinian,” a direct descendant of Merlin who will eventually wield the power to vanquish Morgana's evil forces forever. A decade later, Dave (Jay Baruchel) is an NYU physics nerd who is still enamored with his childhood crush, Becky Barnes (Teresa Palmer). But romance is a sidebar, as Balthazar reconnects with Dave and recruits him to help thwart the machinations of Balthazar's arch-nemesis, the sneering Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina), in hopes of saving mankind from annihilation. Unfortunately, The Sorcerer's Apprentice suffers from a lack of mentor-student chemistry between Cage and Baruchel, precious little wonder (beyond the flashy stunts and pyrotechnics), and an often incoherent plot that leaves many questions unanswered. An overblown and cliché-ridden disappointment, this is optional, at best. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (22 min.), a deleted scene (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are numerous production featurettes, including “Magic in the City” (13 min.), “Making Magic Real” on special effects (12 min.), “The Science of Sorcery” (10 min.), “The Grimhold: An Evil Work of Art” (4 min.), “Fantasia: Reinventing a Classic” (10 min.), “Wolves & Puppies” on the animals (3 min.), “The World's Coolest Car” (2 min.), “The Fashionable Drake Stone” on costumes (2 min.), and “The Encantus” on various spells (2 min.), as well as additional deleted scenes (6 min.), outtakes (3 min.), a bonus DVD copy of the film, and the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a fine extras package—on Blu-ray—for a disappointing film.] (S. Granger)