Friday, April 06, 2007

The Prestige

What is it about magicians, that there are two films out about them? The Illusionist is out now, and we've just seen The Prestige on DVD. Has David Copperfield infiltrated Hollywood or something?

Anyway, The Prestige was quite good. The boy got it because Michael Caine, Christian Bale and an aged David Bowie all star in it.

It's set in what looks to me like Victorian times, about two fiercely competitive stage magicians and the extremes they go to in order to one-up each other. It's also a back-stage snoop at what how stage magicians think up their tricks, maybe.

The science-fiction-y twist at the end is a bit out of the blue, but I like wierd stuff so that was fine by me.

5 comments:

Angela said...

I thought that movie was pretty good too. Gives you something to think about

Violet said...

It's not really a movie I'd heard much about, so it's nice that you've seen it too. The truth about Angier's trick was a bit icky, wasn't it? Actually, that reminds me of that Schwarzeneger movie, The Sixth Day...

Geekery said...

I was really looking forward to seeing it, but then WarnerBros sent me a dodgy screener than kept skipping and made it unwatchable.

And of course, I'm too cheap to rent it!

Determinist said...

I was luke warm on "The Prestige" and "the Illusionist" is about the same.

The acting, directing, sets and so on are all fine, but the story just lets them down.

In both movies, the big reveal is just too obvious about 1/2 way through the movie. It isn't like "Sixth Sense" where you only get it when they want you to...

"The Illusionist" is even worse that way, since after you know what's happening, they have one of the characters sit there with a glowing smile as he figures out every little inch of the mystery as the camera circles him and they give you all the details in flashbacks. They can't just let the audience "get it".

Anyway - neither was that good; both looked better in the previews.

Violet said...

onscreen: yeah we have the same trouble with the copies we get from those little shops in Jakarta...

determinist: I'm not as quick at figuring out the plot twist as the boy is. I didn't know what was going to happen in The Prestige until he found all those top hats. I liked what Borden's secret turned out to be, if only because it made him so much less unlikeable.