July 20, 2007

The Prestige - $8

Two rival stage magicians become bitter enemies after a trick goes wrong at a show they are part of. The rivalry turns into a battle as the two become obsessed with outdoing and destroying each other.


The Prestige was a movie I went into with high expectations and I was not disappointed. I'm becoming a big fan of Christopher Nolan, (Memento, Batman Begins) who wrote and directed this movie and once again he has created a great film with solid story telling and wonderful imagery. The look of The Prestige is superb, from the costumes to the sets, it is nearly worth watching for that alone.

There is far more to see however as The Prestige is capped off by a mysterious storyline and great acting performances from Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson. The team of Bale and Nolan is one I will go out of my way to see in the future as I'm sure this is not the last movie they will do together.

My only slight criticism for this otherwise engaging film is the performance of Hugh Jackman. Because Jackman is in one of the lead roles he is pretty much the only factor keeping my rating from being higher than it already is. I've just never understood Jackman; in every movie I see him in all I see is Hugh Jackman and I never feel fully engaged in the character he is portraying. Jackman is not a bad actor, and neither is his performance in this movie all that bad, but he was overshadowed by the other actors and was not quite subtle enough for the role he was playing.

Overall The Prestige is a movie well worth your time, it is an engaging movie that makes you want to see it again to experience it from the beginning with the knowledge you glean during the unfolding of the story.

I put The Prestige on my 'Watch It' list and give it a value of $8.

9 comments:

Sheamus the... said...

i love it...

Jon Coutts said...

i just want to give props to sheamus, whoever he is, for actually commenting on people's blogs when he reads them, even if he has little to say. its a courtesy i think, to tell someone you've read their stuff and enjoyed or disagreed or whatever with it. who would ask someone how they're doing, and then, after the answer, walk away without saying even a word? not even a nod of the head? props to sheamus for keeping the world civilized.

i haven't seen the prestige, i don't think. this isn't the same as the illusionist is it? that movie was awful.

* (asterisk) said...

I may be tempted, though I was badly burned by Insomnia and a little burned by Batman Begins. Memento was great, though... Hmmm.

Tony Tanti said...

*: Burned by Batman Begins?? That movie was awesome. Insomnia was a little boring but compelling as well I would say.

Jon: no doubt, I love it when people comment. Also, no, this is not the same as The Illusionist, very different storylines though they both center around magic. I like both though, what was awful about the Illusionist?

Sheamus the... said...

Presige a 100 times better. Ha thanks for the nod jon or angie but as far as the keeping the owrld civilized...I am the guy who prays every night fir a zombie invasion.

Tony Tanti said...

I don't know about 100 times better, but it's a bit better. I loved Giamatti and Norton's performances in The Illusionist. That made up for any failings that might have been there in the storyline.

I still don't get why you thought Illusionist was awful Jon.

Jon Coutts said...

yeah, storyline ruined it so that even though giamatti was good it just seemed a waste. norton was okay but seemed stiff and since the magic was so silly his character seemed silly too.

the whole fascination with these illusionists and magicians is that you can't believe your eyes. when you can use f/x to do that, as they did in the illusionist, it pretty much drains away ALL the suspense and drama and fascination. i think it would be possible to pull it off in a movie, and maybe the prestige does, but the illusionist mose certainly did not. i thought the whole thing was dumb. it's like watching the tour de france knowing everyone is on steroids.

* (asterisk) said...

I finally watched Nolan's debut feature Following. It was okay for low-budget flick. My 2nd-fave Nolan picture, after Memento. Still not sure whether I'll bother with this one or not.

Anonymous said...

one of my favorites