Slow pace compensated with great cinematography and a unique third act.

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2008)

Throughout the first act we discover that the narrator had been deliberately misleading us. The same thing happens throughout the second act. Using the concept of magic tricks, we may think of those first two acts as 'the pledge' and 'the turn.' Everything is cruelly revealed with the third act, 'the prestige,' and a bleak, ungodly finale. Angier is severely punished, while Borden brutally destroys every single hope he had ever had.
Bale did not do a good job; all monotonous, even in his supposedly highly emotional master scenes, which leaves one bedazzled, unable to classify the actor when compared to some decent performances in The Machinist and even a few scenes in Equilibrium, while having dreadful appearances in The Batman new releases for instance.
Johansson is a superfluous eye-candy, perhaps due to an unbalanced character. Caine reprises Paul Giamatti's Inspector Uhl's character from The Illusionist (2006) (they even have a very similar visage, which also goes for Johansson and Jessica Biel's appearances to some degree.) Bowie was captivating as the famous Nikola Tesla.
Jackman was the undisputed star, missing only in one line where he cites, "I don't care about my wife," which is supposed to be an excuse not to sympathize with him, but that is, perhaps, a matter of paperwork after all.
This is a very intriguing adaptation that deserves being watched again and again.