The Prestige

I enjoyed The Prestige, though not enough to write up a full set of impressions. The performances were probably slightly better, but otherwise I much preferred The Illusionist, which just had a much stronger story, setting and characters. I like Christian Bale when he’s being gritty, Scarlett Johansson put in a surprisingly good performance, and even David Bowie acquitted himself well with a funny accent. The problem was really that there were two big twists, one of which was so blatant that I figured it out exactly 21 minutes into the film, the other of which was just plain stupid. I quite often figure out twists, but not during the exposition! The Illusionist featured interesting tricks and a nice air of mystery and a decadent atmosphere. The Prestige just thought it was much cleverer than it was, simply because it had a non-linear timeline. Both films aren’t especially true to their setting, but the dialogue here just would not allow me to believe we were seeing Victorian London. Kudos for including Tesla, always a fascinating historical figure, but once again he was just the mad scientist and plot device. The dynamic between the two heroes was interesting enough to carry the film, but I certainly wouldn’t watch it again.