Are you watching closely?

Rating: 10/10 (21 October 2006)

2006 has certainly been the year for very similar movies being released in pairs. First both Hollywoodland and The Black Dahlia slunk onto mainstream screens, both having almost identical plots set in the same time frame. Then came Infamous, another take on the Truman Capote story, which won Philip Seymour Hoffman the best actor academy award last year. And now, the theme of deception and magic seems to have infiltrated the screens, with the emergence of The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, and... Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, detailing the story of two rival magicians constantly competing to upstage the other, their deadly game reaching increasingly higher stakes.
Although comparisons between The Illusionist and Prestige may seem inevitable, safe to say that both are very strong films with admittably incredibly similar plot lines, but in terms of a superior, in areas where Illusionist stumbles, The Prestige seems only to soar, seeming to surpass all audience expectations. Just when the audience feels like they have figured out every last trick The Prestige has to offer, Nolan pitches them a new handful to wrack their brains over. Rather than getting caught up and getting lost in this convoluted structure, the film seems to revel in it, each twist seeming to only improve the quality and intrigue of the film.
It's a testament to Christopher Nolan's incredible skill as a director and writer that he has shown such a run of success in film-making, having had arguably nothing less than a hit thus far, starting with his barely financed but incredibly successful thriller Momento, all the way to last year's incredibly well made Batman Begins, one of the strongest superhero films to date. Nolan seems to really thrive on unusual plot structures, showing a tendency to start the film right before the end of the story, then flashback throughout the course of the film, with occasional jumps back and forth in the storyline to keep the viewers watching closely. (Batman Begins also used this exact structure) It also goes without saying that Nolan retains his usual eye for costumes and set design, and the Victorian age has never looked so sumptuous as under the eyes of Nolan. He is without a doubt one of the most innovating and interesting directors around these days, and we can only hope a Batman sequel is indeed in the cards for him.
Another major aspect in which The Prestige surpasses all potential peers is in the phenomenal cast. If such a cast has been assembled anytime of late, it is unlikely it was to such powerful effect, as each cast member contributes a simply wonderful performance to an already astonishing film. The casting of Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale alongside each other is already enough to provoke mouth watering in about 98% of the population, whether admiring them for talent, looks, or the prospect of Wolverine and Batman sparring off. Either way, they are easily the acting standouts, and both deliver Oscar nomination worthy performances endowed with incredible charisma and skill. (Jackman comes across as the stronger, seeming a bit more emotionally genuine, but it's debatable as to which is the more acclaim worthy as they both deliver such sublime performances) Michael Caine is a classy and brilliant touch as the engineer Cutter, and a rare appearance from David Bowie as electrical inventor Nikola Tesla is a perfect piece of casting, as Bowie's appearance in the film seems to rival that of his character: elusive, exciting and and mysterious. Scarlett Johansson delivers a fine performance as Jackman's character's stage hand, despite several cringe-worthy slips of her Cockney accent, and Rebecca Hall has a somewhat repetitive role to deal with as Bale's character's wife, but still gives a great performance in the end. And of course, it's always great to see the vastly underrated Andy Serkis give yet another top notch performance as Tesla's assistant.
All in all, The Prestige is an incredibly classy and powerful film event - packed with more twists and turns than any viewer, no matter how clever would be able to predict, and fueled with an astonishing cast giving wonderful performances, headed all the while by careful yet powerful writing and directing, on the part of Nolan, who can seem to do no wrong. We can only hope that more movies of this caliber come to theaters soon, as The Prestige is one of the most interesting, genuinely gripping and entertaining thrillers in recent film history.
-9.5/10