It's the typical Romeo-and-Juliet-Film, two persons from two different worlds that cannot be together, mixed up with some magic tricks.

Rating: 3/10 (4 July 2011)

Since I am a big fan of "The Prestige" and somehow expected something as intriguing I watched "The Illusionist". Well, it seems to me that "The Illusionist" is totally overrated.
The acting is well, but you don't really feel this deep love between Jennifer Biel and Edward Norton. The story implicates a big love story, but the acting is rather distant. There is no room to see any character evolve, they all seemed pretty two-dimensional, which is probably why the actors couldn't show their abilities.
Additionally, the whole time I didn't know whether the viewer should believe that these tricks were actual magic tricks or some supernatural powers. Because it was all clearly done with CGI, I couldn't understand how you should imagine any way how this could be done in reality. In the end, the climax lacks a lot of explanation (and don't understand me wrong, I like open endings and mysteries, but here the film tries to explain, but very unsatisfying).
So, if you maybe consider watching this film because you like The Prestige and want to see a film with mysteries and a great story, i recommend not to waste your time.