The Sorcerer's Apprentice

This comedic live action take on the old mickey short is very good.  It will make you laugh with and cheer for Dave the young Sorcerer's Apprentice.  The classic scene is there, but there is much more to the movie. The story is really about Dave finding his self confidence and the will to use his power to resolve a centuries old conflict.  Something I really like about the movie is that Dave grows up to be a scientist and that this plays an important role in the movie.

The only thing I didnt really like about the movie is that the villains are not complex characters.  They are bad guys who like being bad guys.  I would have liked to see more reason for them being the way they are.

The plot of this movie is that centuries ago Merlin and two of his three apprentices Balthazar and Veronica, attempted to defeat Morgana le Fey and Merlin's other apprentice Horvath.  In the fight Merlin dies and Veronica sacrifices herself by merging with Morgana so that she can be trapped in a nesting doll.  In the end Horvath is also trapped , and Balthazar is left to continue alone, searching for the heir Merlin spoke of that can defeat Morgana.  The movie then skips to the near present day where Dave as a child runs into Balthazar right as Horvath escapes.  Balthazar saves Dave, who he recognizes as the heir, by trapping himself and Horvath in a magic vase for a number of years.  Dave's confidence is shattered when no one will believe him about what happened, and he is deemed to have had a mental breakdown.  When Dave is older, and studying physics as a grad student, the two wizards finally escape and the story begins again.  Balthazar begins teaching Dave Magic, with a few comic mishaps including the classic cleaning scene, but it goes to his head and he quickly ends up in a bind.  His confidence is badly hurt by this latest failure on top of years of being thought crazy.  In the end he must overcome his inner demons and combine science and magic to defeat Morgana and finally set things right.

This movie should appeal to fantasy fans, and would be great for family movie night.  Its plot and side stories will keep the adults engaged and the kids will love the battles between wizards, and the good verses evil theme.

This movie can be bought on disk, or as a streaming rental or purchase on www.amazon.com.