'The Sorcerer's Apprentice': Conjuring up kid-friendly charm

"I want to come with you," says the beautiful girl to the boy wizard, who's about to enter a dangerous magical fray in order to save the world from the ravages of an ancient sorcerer villain. He stares at her, pausing as seconds tick away in his quest. "You're sexy," he finally says, his voice cracking in near-disbelief at his luck.

And herein lies the charm of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice:" a sort of down-to-earth dorkiness combined with magic. This kid-friendly movie (my 11-year-old companion loved it) is the tale of a good sorcerer, Balthazar (Nicolas Cage), who arrives in present-day New York to seek out NYU student Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel) as his apprentice. After training, the idea goes, Dave will join Balthazar in fighting the evil Horvath (Alfred Molina), who's aligned with the even more evil Morgana (Alice Krige) who's taken the form of the not-evil Veronica (Monica Bellucci), or something like that.

The story, not to mention Cage's hair, is a little murky (can't a sorcerer conjure up a little shampoo?), but it doesn't matter: The fun here is in the action. We watch Dave, a physics whiz, use "Tesla coils" to further the cause of good (and, incidentally, to help him get the girl); Horvath extending a burning finger; a pack of savage wolves turning into puppies before our eyes; and a character getting swallowed by a "Persian quickrug." And there's a charming central set piece that's an homage to Disney's original "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (from "Fantasia"), in which Dave tries to use a little magic to clean up his physics lab, to disastrous results.

All of this plays out at a sometimes herky-jerky pace, but with plenty to keep young viewers interested. (Parents, note: That "sexy" comment notwithstanding, this movie is squeaky-clean Disney fare.)

Cage stalks around murmuring words of wisdom, punctuated by his weirdly moonstruck smile; it's almost as if he's alone in the movie. But Baruchel, a sort of junior Woody Allen figure here, uses his nasal everyboy charm to good effect; Dave's been thrust into a new world that, he figures, just might be a bit more entertaining than the old one. "Go, team magical stuff!" he exhorts awkwardly, when Balthazar performs some impressive stunt. It's the wrong thing to say, but the right spirit.

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com