The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Dir: Jon Turteltaub
2010
*
The Sorcerer's Apprentice is a full length real life version of a Mickey Mouse film not starring Micky Mouse. Has it really come to this? I know, I know, film making is a business too but c'mon, really, this is getting pathetic. I watched the making of after watching the film and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. JonTurdeltaub and Jerry 'suckheimer' Bruckheimer actually boasted about how much they spent on a set that got only 2 seconds worth of footage, the amazing detail completely invisible to the audience. The post-production costs were huge, and they spent a lot of time on some really cool things, none of which appeared, or at least not for very long, in the the finished film. The boasting is distasteful and rather shocking. It's a shame then that they spent very little time on the script, story and characters, also known as the important bits. They would both be great at running a theme park but they are both horrible at making films, I hate what they do with a passion. All that money could go to better use (to make three or four great films for example) but then again, they will always get their money back because the audience seem to lap it up, although I've not read a good review of the film thus far. 'Leave your brain at home', 'You think about it too much', 'Enjoy it for what it is' is what I've heard in the past, please think twice if you even think of replying with one of these statements. They also seem to have forgotten that Fantasia was about the music just as much as it was about the animation. This cheap and unimaginative way of making films is nothing new but this film is a great example of what I hate about it. It probably won't surprise anyone that I dislike Disney too. I think they are a bad influence on Children, what with their sugar coating, re-writing of classic literature and total disregard to actual historic events. The opening of this film states that it is the year 2000. Where is the World Trade Centre? Did they feel it would offend us to have bought back bad memories if they included the Twin Towers? Lets brush that unpleasant bit of history under the carpet and forget it even happened? That's the magic of Disney! The acting is pretty bad too, although what are you supposed to do with an awful script? Mr. Cage, I'm still a fan but only just. The interview with him in the making of is quite funny, he obviously has just had a long drink (and possibly something else) just to get him through it. Alfred Molina actually does a pretty good job and remains credible. Jay Baruchel however plays it Goofy rather than Mickey, Teresa Palmer might as well have been played by a cardboard cut out and as for Toby Kebbell, well, I hope he got paid very well here, as he has gone down dramatically in the respect stakes. Giving the beautiful Monica Bellucci only 5 minutes of screen time was criminal, not to mention puzzling, I also hope she's was paid well. We can only hope that lessons are learn't but I won't hold my breath.