My Review: Last Vegas (6/10)

"We were 17, you now, five minutes ago. It was just yesterday. I just don't know where it all went, you know? My brain cannot conceive how old this body is."

Last Vegas is one of those movies that you get exactly what you were expecting from it. There are no surprises, it's predictable, but since it has four monster actors you know it will be charming and fun. It's not every day that you get a chance to see Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline, and Morgan Freeman star together in a comedy. They're isn't anything groundbreaking or fresh about their performance, but it's just fun to see them interact with each other and make fun about their old age. Last Vegas is a forgettable film, but one that you will enjoy during its 100 minute run. It has very light humor and doesn't take any risks, but it's also heartwarming and charming. It's a genuinely warm and delightful movie with some funny moments. I'm not going to criticize the film for not taking any risks because I got exactly what I was expecting from it. My father enjoyed it much more than I did, but that's reasonable considering he's more this film's target audience. There's nothing about Last Vegas that's worth recommending, but if you're bored this is an entertaining way to spend it.

The film begins by introducing us to four childhood friends from Brooklyn during the 50's. They were like a good old gang that called themselves the Flatbush Four. 58 years later we see what has happened to each one of them. Billy (Michael Douglas) has remained single all these years and is living the good life in Malibu with his young 31 year old girlfriend. Paddy (Robert De Niro) is still living in Brooklyn and has barely left his apartment since his wife passed away an year ago. Sam (Kevin Kline) and his wife are retired and living in sunny Florida. Archie (Morgan Freeman) is now living in New Jersey with his son who is making sure his father doesn't move around much after he suffered a minor stroke. When Archie and Sam receive a call from Billy telling them that he's getting married they don't hesitate on insisting they have to throw a Bachelor party for him in Vegas. They also convince Paddy to come along and the four get ready to relive their glory days from their youth. 

Jon Turteltaub is a studio director who is better known for his National Treasure films. You know exactly what you are going to get from his movies and know that he isn't looking to win any awards. He is a director who always looks to please major studio producers. The script written by Dan Fogelman (Crazy Stupid Love) is light and fun. It has some charming moments. The film explores rather lightly the themes of friendships and how life seems to pass by faster than what we expect. Last Vegas is a standard film that does exactly what it intended.

My Review: The Sorcerer`s Apprentice (4/10)

¨I have been searching all over the world for you. You're going to be a force for good and a very important sorcerer. But for now, you're my apprentice ¨

From the producer of Pirates of the Caribbean, Jerry Bruckheimer, and the director of the National Treasure franchise,  Jon Turteltaub, comes The Sorcerer`s Apprentice, a film with big names, a great amount of CGI visual effects, but little imagination. The movie is loud and stupid; it reminded me a lot of Dragon Ball Evolution with all the fire balls and the dumb plot. I don`t understand how a film like this with so many good actors, with such good visual effects, powerful producers, didn`t take time to hire a decent group of screenwriters. The story just didn`t live up to my expectations and the cast did what they could to save the movie. Nicolas Cage was probably the best thing about the movie, the visuals were decent, but it takes a lot more than that to make up for the terrible plot. I actually enjoyed the National Treasure franchise more than this film so this was a step back for Turteltaub`s career and hopefully he will stay away from a sequel. The introduction alone explaining the history of the sorcerers and their rivalry was so weak that I knew I was going to have to lower my expectations during the remainder of the film. My favorite scene in the movie was the one from Disney`s Fantasia in which the mops and brooms come to life to help clean the lab, but that was perhaps one of the few positive things along with some funny scenes from Cage that I can say about this movie.

And now it`s time to explain the plot, my least favorite part about The Sorcerer`s Apprentice. The movie opens with a Lord of the Rings style narration in 700 AD where Merlin, the greatest sorcerer ever, is teaching his three apprentices Balthazar (Nicholas Cage), Horvath (Alfred Molina), and Veronica (Monica Bellucci) the secrets of the sorcerers. Horvath betrays Merlin and joins Morgana (Alice Krige), his greatest enemy. Morgana plans to awake all the dead evil sorcerers so she can destroy the world, and in a battle with Merlin she kills him with the help of Horvath. Balthazar and Veronica try to fight off Morgana, and Veronica is able to absorb her soul although she is so powerful that Morgana starts to possess her from inside. That is when Balthazar has to imprison both of them inside a grimhold, which is a Chinese nesting doll. Before Merlin takes his last breath he gives Balthazar a dragon ring telling him that it will come to life when he finds his successor, the Prime Merlinean. Centuries pass and Balthazar doesn`t find the kid until we arrive in modern day New York City. Balthazar finally finds the successor and decides to recruit and teach Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) how to become a sorcerer before Horvath comes to destroy him. Meanwhile, Dave begins to get a little distracted when he runs into his old childhood sweetheart, Becky (Teresa Palmer), and Horvath find an apprentice of his own in entertainer and magician Drake Stone (Toby Kebbell).

The plot is very silly and really doesn`t work in a film that invested so much in the visuals and in the cast. Nicolas Cage does what he can to save this movie, Alfred Molina is also a good villain, Jay Baruchel probably wasn`t the right choice in a movie like this, but his character was silly anyway, Teresa Palmer played the girl of his dreams and she was alright, and the surprise in this film was Toby Kebbell who had a pretty funny role as Molina`s apprentice and entertainer, but he had very little screen time. The movie really suffers from little imagination because if you have the resources to make a film about sorcerers several entertaining things can be done, but the story is pretty simple and we`ve seen most everything before. Someone said why have sorcerers chase each other in cars when they could fly all over the city. It made a lot of sense; they went for the simple instead of the spectacular. I really hope they don`t make a sequel for this movie even though the end of the film gives the possibility for one. This was a pretty bad movie and one you should skip.

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