Predictable, predictable

Rating: 5/10 (6 February 2007)

Goodlooking film, nice atmosphere and decent acting. But here's the point: The movie gives the plot twist away half way through...which makes viewing the unraveling of events that follow disappointing and completely obvious. At first, I thought this may have been an intentional misdirect by the director to further disguise the movie's big reveal. But alas, that's not the case and the plot ends up right where you figured it would.
SPOILERS BELOW:
You'd have to be a moron to not figure this one out: A love sick princess looks at her forbidden lover (an Illusionist no less) and says "we've got to figure out a way to be together but no one can know about it". Then The Illusionist squints his eyes in deep thought and the scene ends. I wonder what's going to happen now? Could there be a double meaning to the movie's title? Could the whole story actually be an illusion too?
The answer of course is yes. The plot is an illusion as well and the big reveal at the end of the movie means I wasn't supposed to be able to figure it out. How condescending can the film makers be? Why even have that scene in the middle of the film where the two lovers have that conversation? That ruined an otherwise enjoyable film.