Clever, labrynthian mystery-thriller - with David Bowie!

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2007)

There seems to be a strongly defined split in posters' opinions about this movie. On the one hand, there are those who didn't see the two big story twists coming and thought the film was the best of 2006. Then there are those who did see the twists coming and felt cheated, just like audience who booed Bale's Chinese ring magic early in the film. One poster went so far as to say that because THE SIXTH SENSE kept him guessing then all came together but he didn't like the way the ending of THE PRESTIGE had to be explained by the narration, then the latter film somehow failed.
I fall into the "Didn't see the twists coming" category (whereas I knew Bruce Willis was a ghost pretty much straight away in SIXTH SENSE).
I'm afraid I didn't figure out Christian Bale's secret until it was pointed out at the climax of the film, though I did have an inkling of how Hugh Jackman's Tesla machine worked (the clue was in the hats and cats)
But none of this matters. The real value of a movie is not the same as the value of a magic trick. Even if the film is ABOUT magic tricks. A film doesn't fail only because you figure out the twist ending. The journey is every bit as important as the destination. (And then there's films that DON'T have twist endings at all - are they automatically bad?) I know how the special effects are done in STAR WARS - doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the film one jot!
No - in my opinion THE PRESTIGE is an ingenious examination of the obsession magic generates in its adherents where the entire film is a metaphor for the nature of performance magic.
And it has TWO great twist endings. Surely, that should satisfy anyone?