The Prestige 4/5 review by Chris
All Christopher Nolan does is make great films. In fact, two of his great films appear in my favorite 20 list. I think I’m in love with him. Really hard.
The Prestige
-Now in theaters-
IMDB synopsis:
Robert and Alfred are rival magicians. When Alfred performs the ultimate magic trick, Rupert tries desperately to find out the secret to the trick.
Chris’s review:
This is the film that The Illusionist was trying to be, but failed. As I said, I love Christopher Nolan and once again he has crafted a magnificent movie. This will join the ranks of his other great works like Memento, Insomnia, and Batman Begins.
Once again Christopher teams up with his brother to write a brilliant script which he then brings to the screen with his masterful directing talent. Add to the mix a stellar cast delivering outstanding performances and you have a nearly perfect film.
The story centers around two magicians that were at one time associates but due to a twist of fate and a freak accident become bitter rivals. Both men show signs of obsession with the other’s success and failure while continually making attempts to further the latter. The plot throws many twist at the audience but I never got the feeling that the Nolan brothers were trying to “trick” us; unlike the terribly overrated M. Night Shamalamdingdong. Instead, the wonderfully crafted story uses twists and turns to explore the depth of the characters and when the final, big, reveal comes, I feel like it wasn’t meant to be a huge surprise, as it is eluded to from the get go, instead you find yourself wondering over the more subliminal twists that are subtle and much more complicated. At least that is MY take. I did walk of the theater hearing other patrons talk about how confused and blindsided they were by the finale. Then again, the average movie audience is stupid. This is not your generic “trick ending” movie that so often gets huge pub but ends up being ridiculously disappointing to anyone with half a brain. The point is not the trick; the real magic of the film is the story and the characters.
Do you like all of the magic speak? Pretty crafty if I do say so myself.
I won’t talk too much more in-depth about the actual story as I want you to experience it with an open mind, not expecting anything. You will find it much more rewarding that way. I will, however, allude to one spoiler so beware…
Still reading?
Ok, Christian Bale’s performance is quite wonderful when you pay close attention to the subtleties of the way he plays his “character.” I can’t say much more, but when all is said and done you may not be AS surprised if you were watching closely. He makes it relatively clear what is going on by the way he plays his scenes. A WONDERFUL performance!
Visually, not surprisingly, Nolan delivers a beautiful looking movie. Period pieces are tricky. If you under-do the theme you lose the feel and end up with an ambiguous looking film that has no real setting. If you over-do it people get distracted by ALL of the old-timey looking things and you lose your story and characters under a mass of crazy looking dresses and horse-drawn carriages. The Prestige finds a great balance, pulling from the time period but not beating it in to your head to notice it. Regards to the wardrobe folks on that point as well. The costumes were very sharp.
This is a tough movie to review because so much of its greatness is based on your own experience of it without knowing too much. And let me tell you it IS an experience. You are completely wrapped up in the story, so much so that you hardly notice the 2+ hour run time. I’ll stop there before I really give anything away, but also note that Andy Serkis is in the movie and how can you not go see a movie with the guy that played Gollum? COME ON!
Chris’s recommendations:
See this movie if…
-You felt ripped off by The Illusionist as it COULD have been SO good, but in actuality really, really sucked. This is the movie you were looking for.
-You enjoy thinking during your films and don’t mind the AWESOME occurrence of coming out of a movie with questions that you can’t wait to talk to someone about. Not unlike Memento or Donnie Darko.
-You think magic is cool.
Don’t see this movie if…
-You liked The Illusionist. I can tell you right now you are too dumb to enjoy The Prestige. Disagree? Email me, I love to debate.
-You are looking for “Batman vs. Wolverine” as I have heard some people refer to it. That is also dumb, though kind of funny.
-You think the “twists” at the end of any M. Night Shamawhatever’s movies are really all that twisty and really all that good. On second thought, GO SEE this movie if that is the case…you’ll learn how it SHOULD be done!
NEW FEATURE:
You’ll like this movie if you liked…
Memento, Batman Begins, The Usual Suspects, The Count of Monte Cristo
or anything else dealing with obsession, revenge, or has a cool twisting plot.
The Prestige
-Now in theaters-
IMDB synopsis:
Robert and Alfred are rival magicians. When Alfred performs the ultimate magic trick, Rupert tries desperately to find out the secret to the trick.
Chris’s review:
This is the film that The Illusionist was trying to be, but failed. As I said, I love Christopher Nolan and once again he has crafted a magnificent movie. This will join the ranks of his other great works like Memento, Insomnia, and Batman Begins.
Once again Christopher teams up with his brother to write a brilliant script which he then brings to the screen with his masterful directing talent. Add to the mix a stellar cast delivering outstanding performances and you have a nearly perfect film.
The story centers around two magicians that were at one time associates but due to a twist of fate and a freak accident become bitter rivals. Both men show signs of obsession with the other’s success and failure while continually making attempts to further the latter. The plot throws many twist at the audience but I never got the feeling that the Nolan brothers were trying to “trick” us; unlike the terribly overrated M. Night Shamalamdingdong. Instead, the wonderfully crafted story uses twists and turns to explore the depth of the characters and when the final, big, reveal comes, I feel like it wasn’t meant to be a huge surprise, as it is eluded to from the get go, instead you find yourself wondering over the more subliminal twists that are subtle and much more complicated. At least that is MY take. I did walk of the theater hearing other patrons talk about how confused and blindsided they were by the finale. Then again, the average movie audience is stupid. This is not your generic “trick ending” movie that so often gets huge pub but ends up being ridiculously disappointing to anyone with half a brain. The point is not the trick; the real magic of the film is the story and the characters.
Do you like all of the magic speak? Pretty crafty if I do say so myself.
I won’t talk too much more in-depth about the actual story as I want you to experience it with an open mind, not expecting anything. You will find it much more rewarding that way. I will, however, allude to one spoiler so beware…
Still reading?
Ok, Christian Bale’s performance is quite wonderful when you pay close attention to the subtleties of the way he plays his “character.” I can’t say much more, but when all is said and done you may not be AS surprised if you were watching closely. He makes it relatively clear what is going on by the way he plays his scenes. A WONDERFUL performance!
Visually, not surprisingly, Nolan delivers a beautiful looking movie. Period pieces are tricky. If you under-do the theme you lose the feel and end up with an ambiguous looking film that has no real setting. If you over-do it people get distracted by ALL of the old-timey looking things and you lose your story and characters under a mass of crazy looking dresses and horse-drawn carriages. The Prestige finds a great balance, pulling from the time period but not beating it in to your head to notice it. Regards to the wardrobe folks on that point as well. The costumes were very sharp.
This is a tough movie to review because so much of its greatness is based on your own experience of it without knowing too much. And let me tell you it IS an experience. You are completely wrapped up in the story, so much so that you hardly notice the 2+ hour run time. I’ll stop there before I really give anything away, but also note that Andy Serkis is in the movie and how can you not go see a movie with the guy that played Gollum? COME ON!
Chris’s recommendations:
See this movie if…
-You felt ripped off by The Illusionist as it COULD have been SO good, but in actuality really, really sucked. This is the movie you were looking for.
-You enjoy thinking during your films and don’t mind the AWESOME occurrence of coming out of a movie with questions that you can’t wait to talk to someone about. Not unlike Memento or Donnie Darko.
-You think magic is cool.
Don’t see this movie if…
-You liked The Illusionist. I can tell you right now you are too dumb to enjoy The Prestige. Disagree? Email me, I love to debate.
-You are looking for “Batman vs. Wolverine” as I have heard some people refer to it. That is also dumb, though kind of funny.
-You think the “twists” at the end of any M. Night Shamawhatever’s movies are really all that twisty and really all that good. On second thought, GO SEE this movie if that is the case…you’ll learn how it SHOULD be done!
NEW FEATURE:
You’ll like this movie if you liked…
Memento, Batman Begins, The Usual Suspects, The Count of Monte Cristo
or anything else dealing with obsession, revenge, or has a cool twisting plot.
posted by Joe Punchface at 3:11 PM
5 Comments:
Wonderful. I had another freakin' movie to add to my list for this weekend. I'm a broke college kid, man. I'm gonna have to wait til they all get to DVD and rent them on "Because You Can't Afford Two, We'll Give You One For Free Wednesday" up here at Movie Gallery. Patience is a virtue...
I'm glad Nolan didn't screw this up. But I wasn't expecting him to either.
And the award for greatest single line of a review:
"Then again, the average movie audience is stupid."
I love how you nonchalantly toss that statement out there like day-old pizza crust.
Nice review, you've got me excited about seeing it, even though I had previously read a few negative reviews. Plus, I heard David Bowie plays Tesla, how could I NOT see that?
You are my elitist idol. Nice work.
hahaha well, i have been looking forward to seeing this one since i saw a preview for it on the tube.
however, i really did enjoy the illusionist. but i am not going to debate you on it thats for sure. i dont have anything to support why i liked it.
thanks for the good reveiw
ryan,
never fear. if you liked the illusionist you will most certainly like the prestige. that is the beauty of movies, people can see the same movie, at the same time, even have the same taste in movies, and still come away with completly different views. the illusionist has been getting great main-stream reviews, but i happened to hate it. but then again, some things that i love other people say stink...see Lost In Translation and my good friend Ben telling me it was horrible...HE IS SO WRONG!
HEy guys, I just saw The Prestige, and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in.
In short, I loved it, and totally agree with your rating of 4/5. I also agree with all your reasons, but allow me to add a few of my own.
Despite the fact that this movie has a bunch of "twists" that are likely to confuse and surprise a lot of movie-goers, it's not a gimmicky thing. This movie is really ABOUT something. Watching these characters go through their downward spirals of obsession and hatred is haunting and poingant. It is beautifully acted by all parties involved, and the directing is magnificent. I love the themes of magic & science--exploring how they are connected or not connected.
The "3 parts of a magic trick" idea that is stated in the beginning becomes a model for the movie, convienintly conforming to standard movie 3-act structure. Thus, the movie is structured like a magic trick in and of itself.
A lot of critics say this movie is predictable, which it is. There are 2 main "twists" at the end, but they are both given away very early in the film, and hinted to so often you'll actually get sick of it. If there's any flaw in this movie, it's that there's too much foreshadowing. But, just like a good magic trick, you probably know what the magician is trying to do, but even then, seeing them do it well is what makes it entertaining, and that's exactly what happens with this film.
The addition of a great Thom Yorke song over the end credits was a perfect ending to a great movie. I'll see it again, and the novel it was based on has risen to the top of my "books to read immediately" list.
"Are you watching closely?"
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