THE STORY: From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Batman Begins”), comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (HUGH JACKMAN) and Alfred Borden (CHRISTIAN BALE) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Full of twists and turns, THE PRESTIGE is set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, the exceptional cast includes two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.
THE REVIEW: The Prestige is chalk full of great actors and each brings their very own chilling personas. The Prestige starts with two friendly, if not overly competitive, magicians. But the friendship changes as one tries to one-up the other—even if it means death. The lengths they will go to is what keeps the view interested in The Prestige. The one puzzling aspect of The Prestige is the mixture of real characters, such as Nikola Tesla (David Bowie), with the fictional ones.
The cast is fantastic. Christian Bale is at his best when he gets a hold of a dark and brooding character. Jackman is well versed at playing any number of roles and this is no different. Jackman always brings a cool, calm civility to his character. Even the supporting cast of Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine never get lost into the background even though it’s a bit of a shame they aren’t given even more meat to sink their teeth into.
FRANKLY: The Prestige suffers being released after The Illusionist. Edward Norton not only outperformed these magicians, but his material was far more plentiful and intriguing. There is too much bouncing from place to place and it’s too distracting. The Prestige isn’t a completely failure. It’s still an exciting movie worth seeing. It’s a shame the magic on the screen didn’t match the magic the magician’s pulled out of their hats.
+ Charlie Craine
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