The Prestige (2006) Dir: Christopher Nolan
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Christopher Nolan's 2006 magic-based thriller was one of the last feature films of his that I needed to watch. It has a lot of very good reviews and ratings, and Nolan's other films are all to a high standard, which gave me plenty of anticipation for the film I was about to watch.
The visual and physical effects were this film's major strength; they looked extremely good. I loved how the tricks and illusions were executed, as well as the way they were shot - it made for some great visuals. I loved that Nolan revealed some tricks, while concealing others.
The story intrigued me to an extent, but it became a little predictable. For a film all about the twists and turns, I found myself ahead of them, more often than not. Don't misconstrue; the narrative works - it's pretty good, but I worked out and guessed nearly all the major plot twists, which is kind of a shame.
This might be a little unpopular to say, but I didn't think any of the characters were likable. Either they were horrible people, like the two protagonists, or they had very little depth to them, especially the female characters. It was hard to ignore, once I had picked up on it.
Christian Bale gave an okay performance, but I just wasn't all that compelled by him as a character. I liked elements of his performance, but there was something not quite right with it - at least for me. He felt inconsistent, more than anything else.
Hugh Jackman was better, but again, suffered from the fact that his character was so unlikable. I definitely enjoyed his acting more - he was more versatile - but I spent the whole film wishing he was easier to like as a character.
Scarlet Johansson and Rebecca Hall both gave good performances, but I thought their writing was a little weak, which was disappointing. There were also fairly strong performances from the likes of Michael Caine, Andy Serkis, David Bowie and Piper Perabo, in their respective supporting roles.
Overall, I can't help but feel a little bit underwhelmed by this one. It had some great elements; I thought the tricks and illusions were particularly great. However, I thought that Nolan failed to provide any likable characters, nor did I feel that the narrative was as strong as some of his other films. Perhaps this was a case of me having my hopes too high.
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