Viewed in
2010
Formats
DVD
Premise
Loosely based on the Fantasia song of the same title. Starring Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel as master and apprentice.
Thoughts
If you expected stupid, silly fun, you've come to the right place.
I guess the best part was that everyone seemed to be aware that the premise was ridiculous, and just ran with it. Cage and Baruchel hammed it up pretty good, giving charming performances. There actually was a little bit of creative writing. I was relieved that the love interest was surprisingly an understanding and likable character, and that the magical powers were more than just exploding fireballs. The shoutout to the Mickey Mouse Fantasia was hilarious in a guilty pleasure way.
Between the occasional creativity was a lot of lazy, predictable writing. You know you're in trouble when you require two exposition flashbacks to set up the main storyline. Because of that, Alfred Molina, Monica Belluci and Borg Queen were sadly underutilized. The Criss Angel jab was so topical, it was practically losing meaning while I was watching. Meanwhile, the CGI-heavy special effects had good production value, but lack any "oomph" factor.
This was perfectly fine mindless family entertainment, just barely surviving on charm and cheeky fun.
What I would change
Sprinkled the exposition flashbacks more creatively into the main plot line.
