I usually try not to miss the opening movie of Fantasia Festival, simply because it feels like a big event. Since it's the first event of the year for the festival, the featured movie is generally expected to be a big hit, and important guests are here to present it to the public.
The opening movie for 2010 was The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as a Canadian premiere. At first I was not sure if I wanted to go. Was it a good idea to use one of my ten movie slots for a movie that would be in regular theaters several weeks later? I could instead choose a movie that I would not necessarily be able to watch afterwards.
However, I figured that most of my friends were going to the premiere, so if I went in regular theaters afterwards, I would probably end up going alone. I also figured that it was in fact cheaper at Fantasia than in theaters, and the main actor is not there to answer questions from the public in theaters.
So here I am, in my seat, ready to watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Before the movie starts, an invisible voice tells us that Jay Baruchel is here as a guest for the movie, and that he will tell us a few words before the movie starts.
At first I did not know who Jay Baruchel was, and I did not know that he had been a voice actor for How To Train Your Dragon. I was actually quite surprised to notice how his voice and speech pattern were almost identical to Hiccup's in the movie. I understand why the character felt that much realistic.
After a few people speaking, it was time to actually watch the movie. Overall, I cannot say I was impressed by the main plot of the movie. Basically the guy discovers he is a sorcerer, learns about the existence of bad guys, trains and eventually defeats them. In parallel, there is also this girl that he likes, and your usual romantic part in an action driven movie.
However, The Sorcerer's Apprentice does not try to impress us with a new pattern for action movies. The elements that make the film remarkable are the characters and the multitude of jokes. The duo formed by Jay Baruchel and Nicolas Cage was simply brilliant. They really felt like an actual sorcerer and his apprentice. It also really felt as though they were simply being themselves. It did not surprise me that several jokes in the movie were actually not on script and created on the spot by the actors during the production.
On the other side, the evil sorcerer's and his apprentice were far from boring. The sorcerer using his small powers in the present as an illusionist, therefore being overly popular and narcissist, felt as a sort of cameo towards Criss Angel.
To keep it simple, The Sorcerer's Apprentice was a great movie. Although the plot was very basic, the actors were very good, and there were enough jokes to keep the viewers laughing a lot during the movie. I would recommend it for anyone who missed it at Fantasia.
No comments:
Post a Comment