WonderCon 2010: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – The Fantasia Remix
April 11, 2010 by Rebekah Pagis
Filed under Movies, feature overlay, special coverage
Jay Baruchel (She’s Out of My League) could not have been more in his element at WonderCon this past Saturday, April 3rd in San Francisco. In fact it would be easy to imagine Jay, had his life taken another path, standing in line at the Moscone Center, dressed up in oddly ill-fitting attire claiming to be a
little known Star Wars character. It’s this geeky quality that makes him so endearing and so perfect for the role of Dave Stutler, an average guy with hidden
talents who becomes Balthazar Blake’s (Nicolas Cage) reluctant protégé in the upcoming Disney movie, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
The movie is a comedy adventure based in large part on the animated segment of Fantasia (where Mickey goes crazy with the brooms/water action). The Sorcerer’s Apprentice however, is brought to life in modern day New York City and centers on the classic conflict between good and evil. Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer trying to defend Manhattan from his nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar recruits young Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential to help. They team up to save NYC as well as Dave’s dream girl Becky (Teresa Palmer).
Teresa Palmer
According to Nicolas Cage, he and Jay really connected while filming the movie. They discovered they are kindred-spirit oddballs, both geeking out over things like Greek mythology and plasma bolts (balls of concentrated energy) they get to shoot out of their hands in the movie. One point he was very adamant about however was his passion for fantasy style films with supernatural characters and the limitless possibilities which these types of roles afford. This possibly explains why Cage gravitated towards The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which represents his seventh collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer.
The true challenge with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which will hit theatres nationwide on July 16th, will likely lie in viewer’s ability to set aside the animated Fantasia movie from their childhood and accept this new movie as its own stand alone piece. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is in essence a new action adventure, fast paced with computer generated imagery; a modern movie that simply uses the Disney classic as a jumping off point.
Photos Taken by Rebekah Pagis, Copyright Poptimal.com
