The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Similar to Merlin The Return, it's mixture medieval and modern times. Sorcerer's Apprentice is of medieval England and very early 21st century Wales. You'd have to keep in mind this is a family style film if you chose to watch. It's geared more for the kids rather than for the entire family, so the kids might like it while the adults could become quite board with it. I still enjoy some of the family films, but only for occasional viewing but this film is way to geared towards the kids for me. I will admit, I had to watch this one in fast-forward. That doesn't mean it's an awful film for the kids but I, at my age, became board with the all the modern day stuff going on between mother and son, the boy and the kids at school and with the "bad guys". I think the film left out the "bad guys" more often and had a bit more focus on Merlin training the boy then I might have liked the film a lot better. 2/10

This movie should prove enjoyable for the pre-teen set, but there's nothing much here to appeal to adults or older young people. Acting is so-so, effects are pretty bad and story has plenty of holes. Older viewers will be interested to see once-famous actors like Robert Davi and Kelly Lebrock in major roles. I guess this is the kind of movie you do when your career is in a slump and/or you need the money. Families can watch this one with no qualms: there is no objectionable material other than occult elements (as you would expect with a movie called The Sorcerer's Apprentice).

This is a nice tame film set in both the Dark Ages and in 2001. The film has a basic story and the characters are a bit two dimensional. Some amusing and comical pieces that makes the film a comedy fantasy instead of much else. The boy "hero" was a little too bratty, and his neighbour wasn't interested in teaching him any magic. The parents were the most boring people on film. The school bully was quite a meaningless character, who was only in it for the daft spilt milkshake and trouser jokes. The ending made out that bully and gang were well aware of Ben's magical powers somehow. The script wasn't thought out and the film was too empty. Kelly Lebrook as Morgana was like a panto villain. It was a little bit colourful and funny.

I'm quite sure that there are people that would like this movie. I am not one of them. 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' is really bad. The effects are alright for a low-budget film like this, but the script, props, acting, and characterisation are all truly shocking. Luckily, this makes for quite an entertaining ride as you can laugh at all the rubbish acting and ridiculous plot points. The concept isn't totally ridiculous, but it's executed poorly and there seems to be no real point to why anyone is doing anything and then everything just starts to get a bit silly. Which is funny. Some kids will probably love it. The problem though is that its probably aimed at children who will be intelligent enough to know that it is badly-made movie. The only good thing I can say about this movie is that it's not very memorable so it won't stay with you for too long (except for one disturbing scene involving a milkshake). If you want a decent movie, try and stay away from this. If you like to point and laugh at things, then this may prove itself a worthy target - especially if you already know about the legend of Merlin.

I didn't give this film a rating because I feel this was for kids only and as such, they might enjoy it. Adults won't find much entertainment here but they will probably have fun watching the kids enjoy it.