Review of The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) by Collier W — 20 Sep 2012

Well, I did saw other big blockbuster hits that came out at the same year back at 2010 including Iron Man 2, How To Train Your Dragon, Alice in Wonderland, and Toy Story 3. This one, however, isn't one of the blockbusters of that year, but I think that it's mostly underrated despite the mixed reception it had when it first came out (critics praised the cast and special effects, but panned it's predictable story and it's incoherent writing).

The story is very simple. A young teenager meets a wizard, the wizard says he's the "chosen one" and must save the world from the forces of evil. Heard of that before? The story's like a mix of Harry Potter and The Matrix and would've had a much more depth to it. Another let down to the film is the main character played by Jar Baruchel. I liked him better in Dreamworks Animation's How To Train Your Dragon, but in here, his character is nothing by an annoying and whiny teenager who doesn't have any emotion whatsoever.

With those flaws aside, everything turned out great. The cinematography is very creative and the visuals are nicely made. Oh, and about the narrative opening to the film, almost forgot about that. I thought that Ian McShane's narration was visually impressive in the beginning before the story started to go downhill. Some of the actors are very likable with great performances from Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina who shines as the cunning villain. The special effects have great depth to it and the decent music score from Trevor Rabin fitted well for the fantastic action moments.

Overall, The Sorcerer's Apprentice does have it's own problems including the predictable story and it's weak script (despite it's hilarious moments), but all-in-all, it's an underrated romp ride and it's definitely worth watching, but not only that. It's a little dark and grittier at the same time.