Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 41%

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a prime example of what's wrong with this summer's movies. Clearly, a pack of studio executives (in this case, at Disney) got together and said, "Let's take the most beloved scene from Fantasia," (Mickey Mouse's silent celebration of Paul Dukas' symphonic poem, based, in turn, on Goethe's poem of the same name) "and turn it into a movie." Could the film be more derivative! (Yes, it turns out.) The iconic out-of-control mops and pails do make an appearance in the movie, but because that sequence lasts only a few minutes, much more has been added, all derived from yet more sources: Arthurian legend, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars (borrowing a moment so lifted from Episode IV: A New Hope that one of the characters feels the need to point out that the scene has been stolen from that movie).

My grandson Max also noticed how derivative the film was; in spite of that, however, he liked it (the special effects are rather good). So I'm going to recommend the movie to parents of older children.

Whenever I'm ready to pan a film aimed at kids, I say to myself: "Compared to Shortz," (which was pure agony to sit through), how bad is this film really? It's Citizen Kane next to Shortz.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it