Sorcerer’s Apprentice has been in production for the past two months and they are still hiring actresses. When Screen Rant mentioned the film before, it didn’t have the incredibly beautiful Monica Belluci (The Matrix Reloaded) attached to it. She has since joined cast members Nicolas Cage, Alfred Molina and director Jon Turteltaub (Cool Runnings) in Disney’s big screen adaptation.
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Sorcerer’s Apprentice is loosely (read not at all) based on the original poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe; Disney drew its inspiration from the poem for the famous scene in the animated classic Fantasia. Based in modern-day Manhattan, Cage is sorcerer Balthazar Blake who is fighting the forces of darkness with the help of his young protégé (Jay Baruchel). Molina plays evil sorcerer Horvath who teams up with Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell) to “gain ultimate powers”.
Bellucci takes on the role of sorceress Veronica, who is Blake’s long-lost girlfriend. Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories) joins her as Baruchel’s girlfriend. Apparently, evil sorcerers do not need love because there has been no mention of girlfriends for them.
I keep having this horrible feeling deep in my gut that this movie is not going to be as good as people think, though I’m trying not to be pessimistic about it. I’m not so worried about newcomers Baruchel and Kebbell or even veteran Molina but the one name attached to this that gives me great pause is… Nicolas Cage.
Now, I’m a Cage fan, I really am! I very much enjoyed him in Honeymoon in Vegas, Raising Arizona and I’m one of the few people that liked The Rock; but his choice of movie roles lately has not been what you would call… “stellar.”
Let’s take a look at his last 10 movies: Knowing, Bangkok Dangerous, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Next, Ghost Rider, The Wicker Man, World Trade Center, The Weather Man, Lord of War, National Treasure. I would only consider two of those (World Trade Center and The Weather Man) to be above average. That puts Nic at a horrible 20% success rate (or 50% if we lower the standards a tad) when it comes to choosing roles.
Both National Treasure movies were fun to watch and made a lot of money at the box office but they were nothing more than popcorn flicks. The rest are a bunch of major disappointments, but not because of his acting, which can sometimes be one-dimensional. Cage always seems to be dedicated to each of his roles, Ghost Rider is a good example, but even that can’t help a movie with a really bad story line.
For the sake of seeing a good magic yarn told on screen that doesn’t have Harry Potter in the title, I hope this movie does turn out to be fun.
Does the cast or story interest you or do you think it will fall painfully short?
Disney’s Sorcerer’s Apprentice will release in theaters July 16, 2010.
Source: /Film
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9 Comments
I think you’re being overly harsh judging Nic Cage’s movies. You said yourself, both National Treasure movies were “fun to watch”. That’s all they were intended to be. EVERY movie made can’t be in competition for an Oscar. We know that. Some movies exist purely for the entertainment aspect (that’s all movies are meant to be, when it comes down to it). And those were entertaining, as you said yourself.
In fact, of those listed I’d say only Wicker Man and Ghost Rider were outright BAD movies. The rest were trying to be entertaining, and for the most part, they succeeded.
Seen 1 Nicolas Cage movie, seen them all in my view, I’ve yet to see a movie where Cage’s character is notably different from his other characters.
This doesn’t interest me if we’re comparing it to the legendary Fantasia.
@Rob – I‘ll admit I’m being a bit overly harsh on Nic Cage movies but I did move him up to 50% by adjusting my standards on his most recent films. I am by no means questioning his ability to act. I am questioning his ability to choose a good role for himself. I think that at this point in his career he CAN be selective and say “No Thanks” to a few roles.
Who’s going to play Mickey? I want a live-action Fantasia, not another movie set in NYC.
Is it too late to re-cast Cage’s part? For me, the worst actor in Hollywood. ( well, ok, he’s best work to date was in Valley Girl)
No, I can’t agree with that. I thought both National Treasure movies and GhostRider were extremely enjoyable movies. The Rock and ConAir are also movies I just love to watch over and over. I admit he’s not your every movie actor, he has to be cast in the right parts, but I really think his movies are fun to watch and thats what movies are all about as far as I’m concerned.
Lord of War was intensely good, I thought.
@Mark – Both National Treasure movies and Lord of War were the other filmsI gave him good credit for.
I enjoyed the First National Treasure, and the second was OK
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