Film Review: The Prestige

Plot: It all begins in rapidly changing, turn-of-the-century London. At a time when magicians are idols and celebrities of the highest order, two young magicians set out to carve their own paths to fame. The flashy, sophisticated Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) is a consummate entertainer, while the rough-edged purist Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is a creative genius who lacks the panache to showcase his magical ideas. They start out as admiring friends and partners. But when their biggest trick goes terribly awry, they become enemies for life–each intent on outdoing and upending the other. Trick by trick, show by show, their ferocious competition builds until it knows no bounds, even utilizing the fantastical new powers of electricity and the scientific brilliance of radical inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) –while the lives of everyone around them hang in the balance.

This film has been in the cinemas for a good 3 weeks before I got the chance to see it. As you know, I had been so enamoured by Daniel Craig in the last few weeks, I was close to missing its run so I made sure to catch it tonight before it bows out of my local Cineworld in West India Quay.

As the film opens Michael Caine tells you to watch closely and boy, did I try, and hard. He then goes on and talks about the three stages of a magic trick; 1) the Pledge, 2) the Turn and of course, 3) the Prestige. My friend Richard (Brunton) over at the Filmstalker says this in his review, “often when you guess the twist before the reveal you find yourself disappointed and the film loses pace and impact”. How true is that with every twist that you can just about easily spot? Now, having seen so many films that had twists, or misdirection and although I totally saw most of them coming in this one, the sheer beauty of it was that instead of applauding my keen eye and losing that sense of anticipation, I still found each revelation quite engaging. I was still getting excited by it all.

As this was a competition between two magicians, I had to choose who to root for and I instinctively went with Angier, wonderfully played by Hugh Jackman. I guess my heart went out to him in the beginning. I also felt Jackman did truly well in his role, that point when you see him so obsessed with it all I found really convincing. I cant wait to see him now in Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain. What about Christian Bale as Alfred Borden? How can he get any better this guy? I’ve watched him metamorphose into the actor he is now since Newsies to Little Women, to Reign of Fire, to Equilibrium, to Batman Begins. I thought he also did well having the more interesting character to play with.

Director Christopher Nolan has done it again as I came out of the cinema quite satisfied, but not without so many burning questions still going through my head. I very much want to see it again, it’s a shame I kept putting this film off, thank goodness for DVDs!

The Prestige: 4/5