Unusual

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2008)

The Prestige is an interesting and unusual movie, with a strong period feel and solid performances from the lead players.
However, there are several elements which flaw the movie. One is Tesla's creation for Angier. Having as a Maguffin a machine which does something impossible not only negates the use of stage magic (based on deceptive illusions) as the centre around which the protagonists' rivalry is wound, it also takes the audience out of the movie and fatally weakens the first part of the denouement. Another flaw is Cutter's failure to act to rescue Borden from sentence of death once he discovers that Angier is not dead. Finally, and less importantly, David Bowie's accent as Tesla is a tad unconvincing.
To compensate for this, Scarlett Johansson's mild estuary accent, complete with glottal stops, is excellent, pitched at a level where it falls short of blonde Essex girl.
If The Prestige is ultimately less than 100% successful, it remains a worthwhile and entertaining movie nonetheless.