Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
4/4
A Devious, Intricate Masterpiece
JLFM - wrote on 08/27/2013
Before The Prestige started rolling, I was worried that I had placed my expectations for this film too high. I'll be frank: I shouldn't have worried. Never was I expecting this film to wow me as much as it did. I was engaged from the very first second, and remained so until the very last. I tried to force myself not to analyse the plot when the movie concluded, but it's impossible. It's like being stuck on a riddle all day, and indeed, The Prestige is very much like a riddle. And so it messes with your mind. Films like this can drive a person mad. The many, many plot twists are often surprising (sometimes even shocking), and I adored every one.
Two passionate magicians, Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, are having massive success with their brilliant illusions. But when one …
Rating of
4/4
'You want to be - fooled.' - The Prestige
Oddkins - wrote on 02/16/2013
A true masterwork. The Prestige is dark, atmospheric and expertly crafted. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale give some of the best, most nuanced and shifting performances of their careers. It is - by my mind at least - for all intents and purposes Christopher Nolan's best film and greatest achievement.
Yes the Batman films and Inception as well as Momento are all wonderful pictures and they are crafted expertly. However I firmly believe that none of Nolan's films gel as well as this - the one about rivalling magicians, towering ambitions, lost loves and damning obsessions.
Also some wonderful supporting performances from Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Andy Serkis and David Bowie. Oh and also Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman for their supporting …
Rating of
3.5/4
"The Prestige" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 05/10/2012
Christian Bale and Michael Caine are re-united with director Christopher Nolan in this beautifully crafted period mystery which sees two magicians locked into an escalating vendetta after a trick goes wrong resulting in the death of Hugh Jackman's wi.fe. Nolan proves himself once more to be as masterful at misdirection as the illusionists themselves, producing a wonderful looking and cleverly scripted tale of revenge that's full of twists and turns. His favoured method of disjointed timelines works very well, feeding the audience important plot elements at strategic intervals, keeping you guessing until, well NEARLY the end...when the final twist reveals itself, it does take a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, but hey, this isn't a documentary. The performances are all fine, …
Rating of
3.5/4
nolan takes the prestige
sreekirch - wrote on 02/19/2012
The best part comes where screenwriting develops a kind of illusion or confusion in the mind of viewers to make it a perfect puzzle that sticks in the viewer’s mind. The worst part is that the puzzle is way too complicated left with small unnoticeable hints. Probably Mr. Nolan wants the viewers to go again for it and make the movie a box office success. This is inspired by a novel (by Christopher Priest) which has a deep emotional drama towards the end. Touch stone pictures and Warner Bros distributed the movie. I can say that I had to feel happy about how well the movie ended creating a puzzle in minds of audience. The Prestige is not a popcorn flick but it has a deep story to tell and well versed characters to perform and show a tricky magic.
Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred …
Rating of
3.5/4
The Prestige review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 09/19/2011
The story of two rivaled magicians out doing each other, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). Main engineer John Cutter (Michael Caine) assists Robert and acquires an assistant named Olivia Wenscombe (Scarlett Johansson). Robert meets Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) to have him create a teleporting machine. Some of the finer lines on the picture: Robert Angier – “Man's reach exceeds his imagination!” Alfred Borden – “The sacrifice... that's the price of a good trick.” Bale and Jackman were solid, Caine was effective and Johansson surprisingly good. The score was not that appealing and the conclusion was a bit disappointing since it utilized science fiction when the first and middle portion of the film didn’t involve any. The premise was good …
Rating of
3.5/4
Pledge, Turn, Prestige
DarkCritic - wrote on 01/12/2010
The Prestige was a fantastic film, not surprisingly with the actors that the movie round together. None the less, this film was one of the best that I've seen.
The story was complicated, but by the end the story nearly explained itself. The amount of shock, back-stabbing, and illusions that went into the movie kept me on the edge of my seat. I could hardly take my eyes off of the screen. Everything was visually and story wise was put together very nicely, and left everything to the imagination until the very end of the movie.
The thing I loved more than the story and the visual effects was the characters. Each character really stood out in this movie, which helped make The Prestige a fantastic film. The way the actors portrayed the characters really helped frame and set the movie …
Rating of
3.5/4
Magic and intrigue.
mdtinney - wrote on 10/17/2009
This is a movie. A movie of such epic proportions I hardly know what to write. Except that it is absolutely incredible. But with the acting talents of Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Van Helsing), Christian Bale (Batman Begins), Michael Caine (Children of Men) combined with the director of Batman Begins Christopher Nolan what else can you expect. The actors are all perfect for their roles. Scarlett Johansen tends to annoy me but she was actually pretty good in this movie.This movie takes an in depth look at human nature: Its struggle for revenge, its need to be at the top, and its obsession and duplicity. The pledge, turn, and prestige of this film are all deftly executed and the special effects and symbolism are incredible. All in all, a must see. I was greatly surprised that it didn't take home …
Rating of
4/4
Interesting throughout
Ichabod Crane - wrote on 10/17/2008
Christopher Nolan seems to be a master at making you interested and into a film. Every film that I have seen by him I just watch and am interested in it the whole time it is on. The prestige just plainly keeps its magic the whole time. The machine used in the film later on might break this from people but I essay learn some more about Tesla, it is hard to believe a lot of things he could do.
The magicians are very well developed and the twits and turns of the story are done just right so they do not feel cheap but you also do not see them coming. These twists work incredibly well because it only makes the rewatch better.
Bale and Jackman make it good but the supporting actors such as David Bowie, Andy Serkis Michael Caine make it great.
Wally Pfister makes this film just look …
Rating of
2/4
Overrated. Nolan Can (And Has) Done Better
Franz Patrick - wrote on 10/08/2008
When I saw this movie for the first time, I didn’t like it because I thought the ending was a big head-scratcher. After seeing it for the second time, I liked it a little bit more (although not by much) because I knew which hints to look for that will eventually justify the twist ending. My problem with this movie is not the acting, the pacing, or its ideas. My problem with it is the writing. If they were going to make a movie about magic tricks, the writing should stay grounded in reality from start to finish because, that way, the audience won’t feel cheated. Adding science fiction into the mix is a big no-no because that would mean anything goes, which means the whole magic storyline is down the toilet. The filmmakers might as well have put aliens trying to invade the world into …
Rating of
4/4
Storytelling beyond compare
TheWolf - wrote on 07/25/2007
When I went out to see The Prestige with a friend of mine, it was at his request. I hadn't seen anything on it, and I wasn't sure if it would be the kind of movie that I would fight to see. I had seen a lot of ads for the Illusionist and I was already under the impression that Hollywood was just trying to dump out as many magic films as it could before the next Harry Potter film could be released (even though it was 8 months away still). After walking in with no real knowledge of the film and no expectations, I have to admit that when it ended, I wanted to sneak into the next showing and watch it again. After having watched the movie, I found out that it was originally a book by Christopher Priest. I went out and bought the book the next week and started reading it. Let me be the first …
