The Prestige

Often the criminally overlooked trick in Christopher Nolan's repertoire - The Prestige is unfortunate to be the filling in a reboot Batman sandwich. People think of Batman Begins and then are immediately drawn to The Dark Knight, no mention of The Prestige in sight or sound. This is terribly unfortunate, as The Prestige is truly a fantastic piece of work.

Starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as two rival magicians with a fixed obsession for 'perfection' in the world of stage magic, the two attempt to outwit and surpass one another at every opportunity. Instead of Batman vs. Wolverine, it's Robert Angier and Alfred Borden going head to head. No claws, although that is made up for with plenty of tricks sprawled across the film.

The Prestige is not to be taken lightly; the film itself is a long one. Running for just over two hours, I was at first a little apprehensive of whether or not a rivalry dripped in magic could last the runtime of the film. But any concerns were quickly put to bed. With Nolan at the helm there are more than enough twists and plot turns to keep you satisfied. The plot is especially rich in detail and on repeated viewings even the minute subtleties will reward you with a smile.

With the majority of the film relying on the performances of the two magnificent magicians to see you through, the performances from both actors has to be equally as strong. And both Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman prove their worth with this film. You may have a 'favourite' when watching the film, but one actor never eclipses the other. This could easily have been a problem, but fortunately it doesn't exist within The Prestige and instead of criticising casting we can praise it. A number of supporting actors and actresses join along the way and again they are fantastic. Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Andy Serkis and even David Bowie as Nikola Tesla all play their parts to perfection. Speaking of Tesla, the scenes with Nikola are some of the most beautiful in the film. And that is high praise coming from a film bountiful of breathtaking cinematography.

A similar film was released alongside The Prestige in 2006, that being The Illusionist. The Illusionist was the film I watched first, and after the initial viewing thought it was okay. Nothing was painfully wrong with it, but The Prestige leaves it as a puff of smoke. The Illusionist was very CGI heavy, and although it had a great performance by Edward Norton acting as its backbone it lacked a certain something. And having watched The Prestige I have a slightly better understanding as to what it lacked - The tactile like nature of the magic.

In The Prestige there are a lot of close-up, intricate tricks alongside grand stage tricks with your traditional magic doors and boxes. You really get a strong sense that the actors went out of their way to actually learn a few things. There may indeed be a few moments were good ole' uncle special effects was called in, but there are also a handful of moments that look as though the actor real is performing the trick which is always good to think. I may be completely wrong with that assumption but a bit of whimsy never hurt anybody.

Although many will cite Batman Begins, The Dark Knight or even Memento as Christopher Nolan's best work, I believe The Prestige is more than able to stand proud amongst them.

I decided to watch The Prestige as I had recently seen it in Empire film magazine"s top 500 greatest movies of all time. While watching Christopher Nolan"s pre-Dark Knight period piece, you can"t help feeling you are part of a bigger event than just watching a movie. In the film two rival magicians attempt to threaten each other, sleep with each other"s lovers and steal each other"s tricks. The two leads are played by Australian actor Hugh Jackman (playing an American) and Welsh actor Christian Bale of Batman fame (playing a cockney). If these accents weren"t enough Scarlett Johansson is dragged in, demonstrating a rather poorly handled English accent, diving between the Queen"s English and stretched cockney vowels. However, the problems of Miss Johansson aside, this Victorian drama is brilliantly staged, with the plot switching time and location so that, in the end, all the pieces of the story fit perfectly. Michael Caine (another actor in the cast also seen in Nolan"s Batman films) is blinding as the brains behind the spectacles, but an even bigger, if more understated, guest-star is David Bowie as an eerie scientist who is commissioned by Jackman"s magician to make a duplicating machine. When the duplication business occurs the film does start to have a hint of fantasy silliness about it (and gets too far fetched for words) but the stylish production values never fail to entertain. The twist at the end is slightly unsatisfactory (more explaining would have been nice) but a gasp realization moment is what it delivers, and, to be fair, it delivers it stunningly.

With twist, after twist, after twist, 'The Prestige' truly is magic!
A beautifully crafted film, from a spectacualar director (Christoper Nolan), which will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout!
'The Prestige' follows two rival magicians, Robert (Jackman) and Alfred (Bale), who intensively try to out do each other. As obsession, jealousy and desperation take over, who will win?
The pledge... the turn... and definitely the prestige!