One of the Smartest Films Recently

Rating: 9/10 (21 October 2006)

The Prestige is a film founded upon wit and intellectual conflicts. The Nolans don't want to challenge the audience as much as they just want the audience to know how brilliant they are. And they are! The Prestige is spectacularly brilliant and full of terrific surprises and excellent twists. For any moviegoer who gets a great kick out of a battle of wits, a game of revenge, and an all-around sneaky plot full of schemes and cons and tricks, The Prestige is the movie of the year for you.
The cast is very convincing, especially the two leads and Caine, who after half a century in movies will never become too weather-beaten to pack a punch, enjoying the tricks they play on us as much as Christopher and Jonathan Nolan are. The Nolans, though they love to show off a bit, in this case by tacking one too many surprises, they are not yet on the road to self- indulgence like many of today's most impressive auteurs like Shyamalan for instance. They will no doubt be knocked by a few critics by Christopher's use of elaborate, multi-layered nonlinear plot structure, telling two flashbacks at the same time while driving the story with the present day. Following, Memento, and even Batman Begins have flaunted the nonlinear technique to the point where, like Tarantino, they will be accused of using it as a gimmick. However, this technique comes in very handy in building the tension in the story. The film is somehow able to surprise the audience after its already shown us the outcome of something.
Once again, it spills a little overboard with its twists and turns once it's satisfied the audience with a dazzlingly brilliant climax, but overall, the film is brilliant and weaves one of the finest suspense threads in awhile.