For the look on their faces...to make them Wonder, just for even a moment...

Rating: 9/10 (24 October 2006)

Brilliantly using the role of a magician as an allegory for not just the "magic" of film-making, but for the dark, psychologically complex motives of the auteur filmmaker, director Christopher Nolan has dispelled his critics who claim he's just another hack and treated his fans to a twisty delight with "The Prestige." This is only his fourth major film (following the neoclassic "Memento," the haunting "Insomnia," and the refreshingly dark "Batman Begins"), but Christopher Nolan has developed clear visual stamps (i.e. panning crane shots of cold, snow covered locales and close-ups of the protagonist working with his hands), complex thematic elements (getting revenge through acts of showmanship or becoming someone/something else, protagonists riddled with guilt over horrible things beyond their control), and delicate and intricate handling of plot/scripting (folding in on time, multiple points of view, and disjointed chronology) that make him one of the most compelling up-and-coming auteurs working in film today.
"The Prestige" is almost impossible to critique without giving away a major plot twist, as the actual twists make the film so fascinatingly rich in that deep down spooky kind of way. The story of dueling magicians (a fairly good Hugh Jackman and a typically brilliant Christian Bale) gets off to a prodding start after we're told from the opening shot by Bale's eerie voice-over narration to "watch closely." Slowly, and inevitably, the tale of one-upmanship and revenge gets under your skin as you try to figure out what the biggest trick is going to be.
Where this year's similarly themed "Illusionist" was lush and romantic, "The Prestige" is brooding and riddled with psychosis. Focusing on one trick and fueled by love, "The Illusionist" sucked in viewers. Focusing on the twisting of time and narration and multiple tricks fueled by competition and hatred, "The Prestige" transfixes viewers into a slow-burning flicker of mesmerized menace. Like Nolan's other films, the blood really starts to pump in the second half as the actors are allowed to truly emote and chew the scenery (think of Carrie-Ann Moss's turn of character in the later part of "Memento" and you'll get an idea of the level Jackman and a superb Rebecca Hall as Bale's wife reach when performing "the turns"), while the plot mechanizations begin to carefully fall into place and their character arcs intertwine in fantastically tragic ways.
Michael Caine (always reliable in these type of mentor roles), Scarlett Johansson (a bit over-exposed this year through no fault of her own by multiple releases but doing a decent British accent here and looking smashing as always), Andy Serkis (a crafty trickster of an actor), and David Bowie (as Tesla) provide fine acting support. Meanwhile, Nolan turns the screws of his mind games tighter than any other bankable director working today and painted a look on my face...that for more than a fleeting moment, but for the entire two-hour runtime and many hours more after, made me Wonder. "The Prestige" is pure movie magic.