Thoughts: Before Christopher Nolan made The Dark Knight and Inception he made another mind bending film named The Prestige, aka, one of the most underrated and forgotten films ever made. The movie is about two competing magicians who are trying to have the better "Teleporting Man" trick and these guys, played by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, are also trying to get revenge for personal reasons, which are explained in the film. The Prestige is one of the those movies that you keep you thinking and talking about long after the film ends. Because of this, there will be complete spoiler section at the bottom; however the rest of the review will be spoiler free.
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Mind bender, Period drama,
Release Date: October 20, 2006
Running Time: 130 minutes
MMPA rating: PG-13
The Good: Shocking plot twists, Excellent performances, Great characters, Uniquely structured plot, Complex plot, Thought provoking, Satisfying ending, Ensemble cast, Intriguing mystery, Original, Suspenseful, Superb cinematography (Oscar nominated),
The Bad:
Plot: The following plot summary is copied from Wikipedia.com.
A magician performs an illusion for a young girl explaining that each trick has three parts; the pledge, where the audience is presented with an ordinary object; the turn, where the object is turned into something extraordinary; and the prestige, where the object is brought back.
Magician Alfred Borden (Bale) is sentenced to death for the murder of rival Robert Angier (Jackman) by drowning him in a water tank during one of Angier's performances. Both began their careers as shills for "Milton the Magician" with ingénieur John Cutter (Caine) and Angier's wife Julia (Perabo) as his assistant. The pair observe an elderly Asian magician who is able to make a large fishbowl appear seemingly from nothing. Borden realizes that the man's frailty is in fact the act and comments that true magic requires sacrifice.
Watch the movie to see what happens next.
Plot: 9.6/10- Nolan creates a unique, nonlinear narrative structure in The Prestige, switching between three different timelines in the story. At first the narrative can be difficult to follow and a little confusing, however it becomes easier to follow as the film progresses. The characters are well written and are given due motive for their actions. What makes the film great however is that the mystery is brilliantly crafted and all the plot twists. While the twist is positively fantastic, it is the point where viewers will either love or hate the film. The twist may not be the best or most shocking twist ever, it is certainly up there.
Action: N/A-
Acting: 9.6/10- Christopher Nolan sure knows how to bring together an excellent cast and The Prestige is no exception. The Prestige's ensemble is fantastic, with top notch and sometimes Oscar worthy performances across the board. Jackman gives his best performance outside of the X-Men franchise and while Bale is occasionally difficult to understand, his performance was very good. Bale's character actually felt like a real human character unlike some of his past roles. As always, Michael Caine brings great gravitas in his usual mentor role. The lovely Scarlett Johansson, gives another amazing performance, albeit in a more minor role. The other cast members are excellent without a single weak performance.
Special effects: N/A-
Soundtrack: 7.7/10- Although it was not the most memorable, it services the film well and adds to the intrigue.
Comedy: N/A-
Would I Watch This Again: Unlike many mysteries, the film has a re-watch-ability since you want to catch all of the clues to the mystery.
Overall: 9.4/10- Overall The Prestige is an amazing film, perfectly structured and well acted with one of the best mysteries ever put to film.
Closing comments: Not everyone will enjoy the film, but it is one that you need to see and decide for yourself.
Recommended for: Nolan fans, Mystery fans, Christian fans, Hugh Jackson fans, Period drama fans, Suspense fans, Mind bender fans,
*Spoiler Discussion*
OK, the ending was absolutely amazing! While it was surprisingly straight forward and not ambiguous like Inception's ending, it made sense for the most part. Not even for a second had I thought Bernard was being played by Christian Bale, the disguise completely fooled me. As for Tesla's sci-fi/magic cloning machine: I liked the idea. Even though it kind of broke the rules of the established world, I actually enjoyed the sci-fi turn at the end. I can see some people really hating it for the twist, which is why the film is not for everyone. My only problem with the film is that, the characters Robert Angier and "The Great Danton" were both played by Hugh Jackman. I know Danton was an actor, but no one except for an identical twin can look that similar to a person. It was not a huge problem and did not effect the score, but it was definitely worth noting.
*End Spoilers*
What are your thoughts on the film? If you have seen it, please discuss spoilers in the comment, if not do you plan to watch the film?
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