Proves magic can be boring

Rating: 1/10 (10 June 2016)

For all the magic, all the tricks, and all the twists and turns this convoluted plot takes, it ultimately fails at creating cinematic magic: providing the audience with an emotionally satisfying experience.
Did this film need to be so long? Did it need to be so complicated? It opens and closes with an explanation about how magic tricks are performed in order to truly amaze the audience. Ironically the screenwriter did not familiarize himself with the basic rules of writing movie scripts. The script suffers from several defects:
1. It drags on too long and falters eventually. By the end the audience is too bored to even care about what is supposed to be a fantastic climax. Unfortunately, it ends up being an anti-climax.
2. We do not really care about characters. We can't relate to so many of them anyway. Nobody can. Especially if they are not interesting. The bottom line is that no one in this film is interesting, except perhaps David Bowie as the genius Tesla. Unfortunately he doesn't really do much and the whole subplot with him, like so much else in this film, is unnecessary.
3. There is no message in this film. The whole rivalry story is unpersuasive, both in terms of motivation for the characters, and in terms of internal logic. The final speech given by the protagonist that is supposed to reveal his deep yearnings and the demonic force that has made him create the whole orgy of senseless violence, comes down to... Well, watch and see. You will be disappointed.
4. As I said, there is a persistent lack of logic. Why do these guys do what they do? Why do they invest all their lives in rivalry and hiding secrets from one another, yet can't seem to predict that the other one might try and sabotage their act? It is very hard to follow this film when one cannot empathize with the characters, understand their deep motivations, or figure out why they keep doing stupid things over and over again. Even the climax of the film includes some unbelievably stupid decisions made by the protagonist. Can this master of deceit not predict that the other guy might come after him? Maybe the screenwriter should have spent less time inventing complicated tricks and focused more on some basic logic.
In sum, I feel empty after watching this film, and would not recommend it to anyone. It sets up a potentially interesting story, it takes us through more than two hours of plot, and it somehow fails to deliver a worthy climax - or, should I say, 'prestige'? One out of ten stars.