Double Feature #3

The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Seriously, just go watch either of the Fantasia movies. The segment is in both. This movie, however, is more of an homage to certain elements of it rather than being a true parody. It's a Nicolas Cage/Jerry Bruckheimer/John Turteltaub production, just like the two National Treasure movies, and I liked both of those. This was okay, albeit with some cringe-worthy moments. And a cameo appearance by CSI Miami's Walter.
For starters, Yen Sid and Mickey are not in it, of course. Instead the movie opens with Merlin - for about thirty seconds before being killed by Morgana. Apparently he had three apprentices and one turned on him, allowing for Morgana to get as close to world domination as she did. The female apprentice traps Morgana's soul within her body and has Nic Cage's character, Balthasar, trap them both in a nesting doll. Because he and the other apprentice can't age and die until they find the one who is destined to succeed Merlin, they search throughout centuries for him and Balthasar traps the evil apprentice and his followers inside layer upon layer of the nesting doll as well. In the year 2000, a boy stumbles into Nic Cage's arcana shop and accidentally opens the nesting doll, releasing the evil apprentice. The two apprentices fight until the boy's teacher comes looking for him and the two are trapped in an urn for ten years while the boy is mocked for telling his classmates that he saw two wizards duking it out in the shop.
Enter 2010, the two are released from the urn and go after the boy, who is now played by the guy who voiced Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon. Nic Cage trains him as his apprentice and the destined successor to Merlin. For those of you who have played Kingdom Hearts, magic in this movie is described as super-science and works pretty much like how Merlin teaches you to magically light things on fire in the first game. All the while, the evil apprentice is trying to release all his minions - and finally Morgana/female apprentice- from the nesting doll and finds his own Criss Angel-like apprentice to kill Balthasar's apprentice. Basically, he just kills off all his hired help to harness their powers and help Morgana take over the world. Needless to say, Hiccup manages to master his powers and save everybody.
Overall, I'd give this movie a 7 out of 10. The best part was probably the reference to Mickey conducting the shooting stars, which was achieved using Tesla coils tuned to music (those things are awesome - seriously, check out the Mythbusters version of the Doctor Who theme using such a device). The part where he accidentally floods his lab by not monitoring his magic in progress did not involve anyone taking a nap. Instead, Balthasar leaves for a while to give Hiccup his privacy so his girlfriend can come over, and Hiccup uses magic to clean the place while he's in the shower. As can be expected, he nearly fries himself and the Tesla coils in the process and ends up sending his girlfriend away at the door so she doesn't see what happened. Balthasar comes back just in time and disperses the water. At least he doesn't paddle the guy's bottom with a broom like Yen Sid did to Mickey (nor does it happen in KH3D either). Nic Cage plays Nic Cage and I'm pretty much okay with that. He's no Yen Sid, though, which I'm also okay with since all he's good for in the Kingdom Hearts games is exposition. Merlin's three apprentices did remind me of the Keyblade apprentice trios.

Tron Legacy
I had not seen the original yet before seeing this one, but I did see the cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 2. Since this sequel is going to be in the newest Kingdom Hearts game (Dream, Drop, Distance), I decided to watch it. I was not disappointed by what I saw, even if it's not really my thing.
At first I thought it was going to be too commercial in hyping the original movie, but the actors really are the biggest fans and were glad to be a part of this. If anything, the new animated series is probably the entity cashing in on this franchise, but I digress. It starts off a few years after the first one with a little boy named Sam who has all this Tron stuff in his room. His father leaves to go do more work on the Grid, but he never returns, leaving young Sam with his grandparents. Emo subplot (kinda). Years later, Sam rebels against the chairman of the board who has taken the software company out of the control of him and his dad's friend. After the friend gets a page from the father, Sam goes into the arcade and puts a quarter into the Tron game - and promptly gets transported into it. You know how this goes.
Sam finds his dad, who has been trapped in the Grid with Quorra, a special program that is the last of her kind. The father had made a program based on himself to make the Grid a better place, but he turned on him and reprogrammed Tron. They manage to make it back to the portal but Clu blocks them and the father has to sacrifice himself to stop Clu and allow Sam and Quorra to escape. The theme here was the art of the selfless, first attempted by Quorra then carried out by Sam's dad because he needed Quorra to make it to the real world.
I would give this an 8/10, but fans would probably rate it higher, of course. I really liked this movie and it looks to be a cool level in KH3D, but it has to be different than its first appearance because of all the elements involved. That has nothing to do with the movie itself except for how Sora and Riku get involved in the world's storyline. Added to that, the Grid can be accessed through the computer at Ansem's place, and there are story cutscenes in Radiant Garden where Lea, Aeleus, and Ienzo wake up. The relationship between Sam and his dad kind of reminds me of the relationship between Ienzo and Ansem the Wise (although in the game Riku compares it to the fallout between Xehanort and Ansem). So I would definitely recommend this movie, perhaps even for Father's Day.