I review Christopher Nolan’s 2006 film, The Prestige, featuring Hugh Jackman,
Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson. This thriller was also written by Jonathan Nolan.
Christopher Nolan is easily one of my Top 5
favourite Directors right now having given us an awesome movie after an awesome
movie. However, despite that, so far, I haven’t got around to watching any of
his pre-Batman films, but that
changed when I was able to see The
Prestige. And just like that, it’s now my third favourite Nolan film,
behind Interstellar and The Dark Knight in terms of sheer
awesomeness. In fact, little did I know that within 24 hours of writing my
review of The Departed, where I
labelled it as the best film of 2006, it would be beaten by this film that like
all Nolan movies, manages to be unique in design and incredibly captivating.
In the wake of an illusion gone horribly
wrong, two 19th century stage magicians are transformed from friend
into foe. Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Rupert Angrier (Hugh Jackman) are
pitted against each other as they attempt to keep outdoing one another with
their various performances. The stakes raise as the film progresses, putting
the lives of both men on the line, in something that manages to be incredibly
unpredictable and incredibly gripping viewing. You can’t quite work out what’s
going to happen next and the final twist will leave you breathless, awed and
wanting to rewatch the film to see if you could spot all the clues leading up
to the reveal. In that manner of speaking, The
Prestige itself is very much like a good magic trick, and it never
disappoints.
The cast are pretty good indeed, with several
A-Listers included in the movie. Christian Bale and Michael Caine people will
recognise from The Dark Knight Trilogy,
and Caine himself is a Nolan regular with roles in both Inception and Interstellar as
well. The Prestige is one of his more
important roles in a Nolan film, and whilst he still doesn’t play as a major
role as Bale and Jackman, it’s great to see more Caine there. Speaking of Bale
and Jackman, as the two competing magicians, they put in some brilliant
performances in their respective roles. Both work wonders as they attempt to
pull trick after trick, and they really are the stars of the show. You’re not
quite sure if you’re meant to be getting behind one man or the other, but its
fun to watch them both pit their wits against each other as Nolan, and the
actors makes both characters sympathetic to a certain extent.
As well as Caine, Jackman and Bale, The Prestige features some good actors
and actresses in supporting roles. Scarlett Johansson stars as Olivia
Wenscombe, Angrier’s supporting actress, and puts in a good performance. The
other big names include artist David Bowie and Andy Serkis, in one of his roles
where he isn’t playing a CGI character.
The film’s atmosphere is pretty great. Shot
by Nolan’s regular cinematographer, Wally Pfister, the backdrop of Colorado and
London are captured incredibly well, using the backdrop of Victorian London to
great effect indeed. It’s a lot more complex than Nolan’s Batman films, and is certainly an example of
why he’s probably better left to do movies outside of the superhero genre
rather than within it. (Although saying that, all the Batman movies have been
pretty good, so I wouldn’t mind him returning).
On the whole then, The Prestige is another excellent movie from Christopher Nolan and
I have not been disappointed by what he has brought us so far. If you’ve not seen this film already, prepare
to have you mind blown. It’s excellent.
VERDICT:
9.5/10
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