Two magician pals become rivals after one of their performances turns tragic

Rating: 1/10 (31 October 2006)

Some movies, while lingering in your thoughts after leaving the theater, mellow like a fine wine. This turned to vinegar very quickly. The story began sensibly enough, but then quickly degenerates into an incoherent mess, as if the script was half-written when given the studio's green light, financed, and cast, then sloppily given a dopey, intelligence-insulting last written half. Having seen "The Illusionist", I almost thought they had attempted a poor satire of the much, much better movie. As if taking a cue from this nit-witty script, the acting, from such a star-studded cast, was amazingly half-rate. Scarlet Johanssen should not attempt a British accent ever, ever again; even Michael Caine's and Christian Bale's cockney accents were cringe-inducing and they're both British! Even with the large budget they were probably given for set design (it takes place around 1899), they still screwed this up and made it look incredibly amateurish - the scenes of Colorado Springs from a hillside made the town look like a wintertime snow-globe village. The special effects were wasted on the idiotic idea that Nicola Tesla built an energy globe that could replicate objects and, oh my God, people. All in all, a forgettable movie.