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Turteltaub strives to show us realistic-looking magic, without realizing he'd be better off if he acknowledged that there's no such thing. Instead, we get human figures that emerge "magically" from swarms of cockroaches and sorceresses who dissolve into dust particles right before our eyes. It's the best CGI money can buy, and who cares?

Big and brash with a fantasia of battles and chases thrown in to keep the young ones enthralled for its nearly two-hour running time.

A by-the-numbers, good-vs.-evil tale.

A flavorless family-friendly action-adventure that doubles as memory exploitation. It has nothing to do with either the Mickey Mouse broom sequence of the same name from 1940's "Fantasia'' or the 213-year-old Goethe poem that inspired it.

On the whole, the movie is more Cheez Whiz than wizardly.

While both actors have been hammier and more hilarious, and neither one overdoes things enough to be notable, they at least seem to be having loads of flailing fun as they conjure up CGI scenery to chew on. And when Apprentice limits itself to their battle, it's generally fitful dumb fun.

"Apprentice" lurches from one been-there-done-that sequence to another.

The magic here feels machine-made and depressingly state-of-the-art.

A generally joyless pastiche of sorcery history, imitation Potter "chosen one" Messianics and mirthless silliness, it's another in a string of recent black marks against Cage's Oscar-owning reputation.

As Balthazar, Cage doesn't disappoint. He's just manic enough to keep the character from becoming too predictable.