Excellent we added to our holiday collection
Nicholas Cage is awesome, as usual, but the surprise here is the young actor, Jay Baruchel, who plays the apprentice. His demonstrates some fine acting skills, along with his own special brand of charisma. How nice it was to actually go to a movie that was 'fun' for a change instead of just another ho hum attempt at entertainment. Just the right amount of special effects and several supporting characters that were very interesting, too.
Excellent movie! Fun for all ages. I don't remember anything that would preclude the kiddies from seeing it. It's a story about magic, energy, and physics, and also about believing in your own abilities.
The story begins in Britain, 740 A.D., in the final battle between Sorceress Morgana and Sorcerer Merlin. (Some of you may remember these characters from King Arthur and Camelot times.) Morgana kills Merlin, but Merlin's apprentice, Balcazar, manages to trap Morgana in a Russian Nesting Doll, which they later refer to as the Grimhold. (A Russian Nesting Doll is a doll painted on a closed vase. There are several smaller and smaller dolls/vases within the doll on top, thereby creating a layered or nesting effect. You often see Russian Nesting Dolls at multi-cultural craft shows.) For over 1,000 years, Balcazar has captured evil Morganites (followers of Morgana) and trapped them in layers of the doll above Morgana. The prophecy is that there will be a Prime Millennium (PM) (spelling?) who will come into the picture. The PM will be the heir to Merlin's powers and only the PM will be able to kill off Morgana once and for all. Balcazar must search for the PM until he is found, then train him in Wizardry.
Fast forward to the year 2000, we meet shy, somewhat nerdy 9 or 10 year old David on a field trip with his classmates. Chasing a note from a pretty young girl, he finds himself in a very strange shop in New York called the Arcana Cabana, alive with weird and scary relics of a time long forgotten. It is in this shop that David meets Balcazar (Nicholas Cage), and Balcazar recognizes David as the PM. The "stuff" starts happening that day and scares the heck out of David.
Fast forward another 10 years and our hero is now about 20. David is a physics nerd in college and he is darned good with physics and electronics. Just as David THOUGHT the old experience was over, Morganite Horvath comes after David looking for the Grimhold while Balcazar comes to help David and protect the Grimhold. You see, Horvath wants to free Morgana, so Morgana can bring the evil dead to life and take over the world! OMG!
We have lots of adventure as Balcazar tries to teach David the Wizardry he needs to know before it is too late. (Actually, David already has the ability within him. Balcazar just has to re-awaken David and help David find the belief in himself that he CAN do it.) I especially love in the early learning stages, when Balcazar says to David in a calm voice, "David, you should run."
Great movie! Nice job by Nicholas Cage, a fine actor who does justice to every part he plays. Yes, I DO most certainly plan to watch this movie again. I believe you will enjoy it very much.Read full review
