I Saw Sorcerer's Apprentice

Normally, I don't like to see movies until they've been out for a week. I avoid crowds and crying babies that way. Plus, I hear that the local theatres make more money off the films after the first week because the first week they pay most of ticket cost back in film fees.

But I felt like I really needed a night out yesterday. I had been cooped up in the house for nearly two weeks and I was getting antsy. So we bought our tickets on Fandango and went to the theatre.

There's a new theatre in Sioux Falls and it's nice. It smells like a new car it's so new. The seats are really comfortable and the temperature control is perfect. I actually didn't need my sweater this time.

Anywho... (as my daughter likes to say)

I wasn't really sure what to expect. It seems like forever since Nicolas Cage has been in a good movie and in the past, I haven't liked many of the movies in which he died his hair brown or black or just plain muddy dark.

Needless to say, I was suprised that I actually enjoyed the film.

I would say that the plot had one huge drawback, though. I was so annoyed with the boy's insistent need to chase after the girl and not give his new plight his all. It seems like everytime the film began to pick up speed, it was immediately put on hold to deal with his need to impress and catch the girl. So the film got going good, then it lulled, then it got going good, then it lulled.

It was as though the producers were trying to put in a summer romance film for the chicks and an action adventure for the guys.

If I had my way, I would've stuck to the action adventure.

The plot was safe. There was no big battle between good and evil, there was not enough time spent on the boy's training to prepare him for the final battle, and though we understand that he won the battle based upon his brains and the law of physics more than his magic abilities, we would've liked to have seen that more balanced out.

I also found the whole talking through his nasal cavity really annoying--but my son says that's the way Jay Baruchel actually talks. Who knew.

Overall, this is a kids' film.

This is a film meant to entertain the whole family. This is a formula that tweens enjoy and if that was this film's intended audience, then it did a darn good job. But if it was meant for adult men and women, it missed the mark a bit.

Still, having realized who I felt the film was made for allowed me to enjoy the movie for what it was. There were funny parts in which I laughed, too--which always helps.

As for costume design and set design. Right on the money! Such a nice balance between Steam Punk and Modern World.

Now onto to Nicolas Cage's performance. A little bland but that has more to do with the screenwriters than his performance. I suppose that I would've liked to see him a little more forceful with the kid and a little more angry with his enemy. What I saw was a man tormented by his 1,000 year plight. I saw a man who was tired and burnt out and a character who wasn't allowed to live up to its full potential.

And yet, I liked the film. As a tween film, I think it hit its mark. It was not dark and sinister. It was not suspenseful and full on action-packed. It was, for all intensive purposes, a safe film. It was a tween film.