A marvelously intricate construction.

Rating: 10/10 (30 October 2006)

Christopher Nolan's previous films show him to be a master of plotting and misdirection, even in a relatively straightforward superhero film like "Batman Begins." Here, with Batman and Wolverine headlining his production (Batman, amusingly, plays a character named Alfred), he weaves another elaborate mystery set in Victorian Britain, as two stage magicians vie for prominence (when I first heard about this film, it reminded me of the novel "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell", which was set in the Regency). Bale and Jackman bring little trace of their previous roles (especially Jackman), and have able support from Michael Caine, Scarlett Johanssen (in a rather throwaway part), and Rebecca Hall. However, the real surprise of the film is an astonishing performance from David Bowie as inventor Nikola Tesla; Bowie is incredible in this part, and one almost wishes for a movie about him. Much like a J.K. Rowling novel, the delight of this movie is the way in which Nolan scatters numerous clues to what is really going on through the proceedings, only to pull out a series of fantastic plot twists the cast a whole new light on everything we've see happen previous to this. There are several huge twists at the end of this film, any one of which alone would seem to be enough, until Nolan contorts the plot again, and things still hold together. I highly recommend this stellar production.