Saturday, October 30, 2010

Capsule Review: The Prestige (2006)

The-PrestigeBetween his two Batman films, Christopher Nolan made the somewhat surprising choice to make a movie about duelling magicians in late 19th Century England – and had the bad luck to confusingly open a little after The Illusionist, another period piece about magicians, which left some audience members confused. Both films are worthwhile, but The Prestige was definitely more ambitious with its non-linear plot structure and huge twists. Lead performances are great, with Nolan regulars Michael Caine and Christian Bale doing well, though it’s Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier that I was left particularly impressed with (and having David Bowie pop up as Nikola Tesla was a nice surprise). All that said, the film relies fairly heavily on its final reveals, and if you don’t buy in you might be left feeling cold. I enjoyed it, but it does feel like an impressive technical exercise more than a fully fleshed out film, though that may be the point.

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