A mesmerizing and captivating film

Rating: Null/10 (12 January 2010)

The Illusionist is a captivating film because it relies on the audience to wonder and guess what the 'illusion' is. Is it real or not? The film is mesmerizing in it's ability to engage the audience and make us wonder until the last minute. The performances are strong. Jessica Biel is beautiful. Rufus Sewell gives the best performance and he is amazing to watch. The cinematography and set and costume designs are wonderful and create a very well-done era of magic. The score is also brilliant. The twist at the end was not as frustrating as it could have turned out, but also not as 'magical' as I wanted. But both The Illusionist and The Prestige are two films that know how to hypnotize audiences.