The Sorcerer's Apprentice

What is there to say about a film that has been done 3 or 4 times, except that this the WORST of the adaptations I've seen.

It lacks any coherent storyline (although most of us know the storyline), and I'm afraid the performances of any of the actors (including the usually good Robert Davi) is dismal. Kelly LeBrock was picked because she's pretty, not because she can act. Sad to say, I see why her career foundered early on. The actor playing the boy is vacant-eyed for the entire movie (is he the child equivalent of the "dumb blonde"??), and I wonder if he even had a career after this.

And, another movie where everyone talks as though they were born in 1992 (Morgana: "Enough of this. Are we gonna fight now?" Just what I would expect of a sorcereress born 1500 years ago: she sounds like she was born in Southern California. Poor screenplay, poor writing.

The movie is hardly watchable. If I was 10, I might enjoy it. Unfortunately, I'm closer to 100 than to 10, so it has very little appeal. I wanted to like it, but it just didn't. Happen. Maybe you will have more luck!

This film definitely was brought to us by the same South African country that gave us such whimsical fare as The Fairy King of Ar and The Little Unicorn about the biggest little unicorn ever! This one features Merlin and the exact same house used in The Little Unicorn to bring us a film about a kid moving into a new place and magic! Not much magic mind you, but there is a bit on display here if you consider the ability to make a bully dump a strawberry milkshake on himself a super magical event!

The story, a boy who may be bi-polar moves to a large estate cause his dad got a new job as a curator. Why do I say he is bi-polar? Because, he constantly yells at people that he hates them, doesn't want anything to do with him and then he is back within minutes saying he is sorry and didn't mean it. He tries to become friends with the neighbor who has the exact same problem and we are fraught with a movie full of go away! I'm sorry! Let me teach you magic! No, I will not teach you magic! Meanwhile, Kelly LeBrock who I hadn't seen since Hard To Kill is the villain.

The cast of these films always feature a star of note or two as the fairy king had Corbin Bernson and Malcolm McDowell and the unicorn one had George Hamilton and a couple of others. This one gives us Kelly LeBrock and Ray Davi, so it apparently had a smaller budget than the other two. Ray best known as one of the gang in Goonies and the big time cocaine dealer from License to Kill and Kelly Weird Science and Hard To Kill and being a model. Still, Ray does a fairly good job, I just wish he did not feel the need to sing in this one...

So we get bullying and the boy trying to make it with the local cutie while Merlin shows the kid like two spells that any magician can do and we have our movie with two action pieces to bookend the movie. Of the three films I have seen from this company, this is the weakest; however, it is not exactly like the others were way better or anything.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice is yet another adaption of the battle of good vs evil involving Merlin and Morgana. For the most part, it's a wholesome family movie. The acting is decent and the script is fairly well written. However, there are some things that detract from the entertaining qualities of the movie. The lead character comes across as more irritating and annoying than anything else. Kelly LaBrock's performance is rather lackluster. The cinematography and effects in the film is more that of the late 1970's rather than a film done in 2000. The style might even be considered reminiscent of the many Disney movies of the late 60" to mid 70's. Despite it's shortcomings, I still believe the movie was entertaining.

I'm quite sure that there are people that would like this movie. I am not one of them. 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' is really bad. The effects are alright for a low-budget film like this, but the script, props, acting, and characterisation are all truly shocking.

Luckily, this makes for quite an entertaining ride as you can laugh at all the rubbish acting and ridiculous plot points. The concept isn't totally ridiculous, but it's executed poorly and there seems to be no real point to why anyone is doing anything and then everything just starts to get a bit silly. Which is funny.

Some kids will probably love it. The problem though is that its probably aimed at children who will be intelligent enough to know that it is badly-made movie. The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it's not very memorable so it won't stay with you for too long (except for one disturbing scene involving a milkshake).

If you want a decent movie, try and stay away from this. If you like to point and laugh at things, then this may prove itself a worthy target - especially if you already know about the legend of Merlin.

1st watched 4/16/2021 - 4 out of 10(Dir-David Lister): So so drama involving Merlin being sent into the modern world - with an evil Morgana on his trail to get a magical crystal and the staff (also, known as the sword in the stone) to gain power over the world. On the modern side, it's about a young boy who likes magic, and has a struggling relationship with his father, and starts to take the liking to a neighbor named Milner who shows him unusual tricks. The human story is more appealing as Ben, played by Byron Taylor, is new to the neighborhood and is trying to survive at his new school. He is bullied and with the help of Milner and his girlfriend he starts to turn the tides. Morgana's pack - a cat and mouse turned human - start stalking Milner(who is really Merlin) and the kid trying to figure out where the crystal is. The evil characters are really what pulls this movie down. Morgana, played by Kelly LeBrock, is over the top and the mouse/cat combination just isn't that appealing or funny. The relationship that builds between Milner(Merlin) and Ben is good, but by the time it's improving we get to the finale with the battle between the good and evil folks. Kids might enjoy parts of this movie, but there isn't enough depth for others. It was watchable, that was about all.