One of those movies that gets better every time that you see it

Rating: 8/10 (31 May 2012)

The first time through, The Prestige is just a sort of intriguing film to watch, where the pageantry of the magic shows is about half of the attraction. When an implausible sci-fi twist comes along and makes the last half hour a great big WTF experience, it can be kind of disappointing. But if you watch it again, you'll see a lot more in it. This isn't just a movie about magic and figuring out how Robert Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) perform their greatest tricks. This is a story about the self-destructive nature of obsession and revenge, and about how you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. The second time through this movie, with a bit of perspective on what it all means, it gets better. You realize the massive sacrifices that Borden and Angier will make in an endless attempt to one-up one another.
From the beginning, the movie does a great job of setting up Borden and Angier as rivals. Borden is great at the technical aspects of being an illusionist, but he has no charisma or style. Angier, on the other hand, understands the "show" part of show business much better. It is almost painful to watch Borden perform his show with no personality in front of small crowds, while Angier dazzles much larger audiences with charm and pizazz. At some point though, Angier discovers that Borden has come up with a new magic trick. He becomes obsessed with finding out how Borden is doing the trick, resorting to extreme measures before finally coming up with his own version of it. From there, the feud continues to escalate. To say that this movie is wholly unpredictable would be putting it lightly. From the beginning, you never have a really good idea of where it is going or whether there is a formula at work. The last half hour will definitely surprise you. It might not satisfy you, but you won't see it coming.
The Prestige is strong evidence that the quality of a Christopher Nolan film is inversely proportional to its funding. Lacking the $100+ Million CGI budget of a film like Inception, Nolan focuses more in this movie on script and atmosphere. There are about a half dozen magic show scenes in this movie, and every one of them is a treat to watch. Unlike the loud (and sometimes obnoxious) Hans Zimmer scores that have populated Nolan's last couple of movies, The Prestige has a low key score, much more in the style of Memento.
The big drawback that I see to this film is that in typical Nolan fashion, the time line bounces around, to the point where the movie can be confusing the first time that you see it. Unlike Batman Begins and Memento, however, it's kind of pointless here. I can see no reason why this movie wouldn't have been better if it had been shown in chronological order. The film is complex enough as it is. It kind of hints that it is an allegory for the bitter feud between Nicola Tesla and Thomas Edison, which occurred during this time period. It is one of those movies where you will probably notice something new every time that you see it, even after five viewings.
If you haven't seen The Prestige, then I highly encourage you to see it. If you saw it and you weren't very impressed, then I highly encourage you to give it a second chance. I enjoyed the movie on my first viewing, and it gets better every time that I see it.