Sorcerer's Apprentice Trailer Thrives at Intersection of Nicolas Cage, Disney and Depeche Mode

No sooner had a stunt driver taken out a Sbarro in Times Square than everybody knew that Disney had some dark, curse-y magic on its hands with The Sorcerer's Apprentice. But only today, as the first trailer arrives online, do we realize just how dark. (Hint: Pretty dark!)

Don't let the Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films logos fool you. From the first image of Manhattan at night, with a Chrysler Building gargoyle swooping loose for some mayhem in the streets, the studio plans to exploit only the moodiest Mickey Mouse roots in the animated masterpiece Fantasia. It's even hard to believe this is a Jon Turtletaub movie; the director best known for diluting any and all flavor or fun from the National Treasure franchise has corralled an urban menace pulled from the Christopher Nolan playbook. A few thousand swarming insects and one reasonably credible Nicolas Cage wig later, surprise is the order of the day.

And then it just gets outrageous: Apprentice Jay Baruchel shows up unexplained and unprepared for the adventure ahead, which will take him zooming through explode-y avenue canyons, dusty crypts and even the subway, all in appropriately lightning-cut bursts scored to the squawking strains of Depeche Mode's "A Pain That I'm Used To." Disney! Dave Gahan! Was the more obvious selection of "Master and Servant" just too retro? Or perhaps simply too cheerful for the task at hand? Either way, between world-weary Cage, sneering villain Alfred Molina and the prospect of a blockbuster that scares the hell out of the kiddies is compelling, even appealing stuff. Throw in a flaming Sbarro, and...

VERDICT: Sold!