9 out of 10 stars
Cast
Christian Bale........................Alfred Borden
Hugh Jackman.......................Robert Angier
Michael Caine...................................Cutter
Scarlett Johansson..........Olivia Wenscombe
*****WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS*****
I really enjoyed Michael Caine's role in this movie. Like, more than the 7,000 other roles he's had. Michael Caine's character, Cutter, is Robert Angier's behind-the-scenes guy. He was the behind-the-scenes guy for both Alfred and Robert when they worked together, but when the went their separate ways, Cutter chose to stay with Robert. He still cares about Alfred, and Alfred about him, but he realizes that Robert will only work with him if Cutter only works with Robert.
Cutter is just a nice guy. He really is. He just wants Robert to be able to put on the best magic show he can. Yet, he sees Roberts destructive path of becoming obsessed with beating Alfred. Cutter tries to make Robert see reason, but he comes up fruitless. Only when Robert thinks he's beaten Alfred (that word "thinks" is very important) does he finally give up his one big trick.
I think Cutter was my favorite character in this movie.
I have a very strong love-hate relationship with Scarlett Johansson. In a couple movies, I don't like her one bit. Yet, in other movies, she impresses me (like Iron Man 2). I think I like her in this movie but I'm still not very sure.
Now her character, Olivia Wenscombe, is hired by Alfred to be his on-stage assistant. However, she acts as kind of a double-agent. Alfred sends her to work with Robert so he can have an insight into what Robert is doing. The first time I watched it, I was a bit confused as to who she really worked for, but the second time I watched it, everything was clear.
Scarlett Johansson does a good job at playing the very independent and confident, yet young and eager girl who wants to work with magic.
Overall, this film was very well-done for me. Not only in the story itself but also in the casting, set design, and costume. I thought everything was very nicely planned out and executed. I do not think that this is my favorite Chris Nolan film, but it's certainly one of the top. It showed me his ability to give an audience a complex story and do it in a way that isn't so confusing that it loses the audience's interest.
I know the word is ridiculously overused, but this film truly is brilliant.
Sources
Images-Google
Cast-IMDb
Can we all just take a moment to remember that I am a huge Christopher Nolan fan. And this movie is the reason for that. Now before I had seen this movie, the only two Christopher Nolan films I had seen were Inception and the Dark Knight. And when I realized those two had been created by the same person I was like "alright, he's a pretty cool guy."
Then I saw this movie.
And holy crap my pants, this movie changed everything. When I saw that Christopher Nolan was responsible for bringing this beautiful masterpiece to life, I began to realize how much I admired his directing and story-telling.
Mind you, the first time I watched this movie was at my house. It was on TV and my dad decided to watch it so I joined him. I fell asleep for a little bit in the middle which was a HUGE mistake because once the ending rolled around, I had no idea what was going on.
But then not two weeks later my sophomore English teacher told us we would be watching none other than The Prestige in class. First I would like to say that only one other person in the class had seen this movie besides me so when the final scene came about, we decided to watch everyone else's faces and it was probably the funniest thing I have ever witnessed in my life.
Let me explain.
This movie is about two magicians (Bale and Jackman). Former partners turned rivals, these two magicians compete to gain the biggest audience and have the most impressive tricks. Now this isn't some pull-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat-magic kind of movie. This is a question-life-and-all-known-and-commonly-practiced-science-methods-magic kind of movie.
If you are one of those people who like to just "sit and enjoy watching a movie," this movie is not for you. At all. This is one of those movies that you may need to watch twice to fully understand what your brain just went through.
And because this was a Christopher Nolan film, the cast was, of course, phenomenal.
I do believe I have grown to love Christian Bale simply for his roles in Chris Nolan films. This one is one of his better roles. Christian Bale has to play a family man as well as a slightly arrogant performer. He does both roles brilliantly. At some points, he also really pulls at my heart when it comes to his daughter.
Alfred Borden is an extremely complex character. I really felt that Christian Bale did beautifully in showing Alfred Borden's constant inner battle between his love for his family, and his love for magic. At one point in the movie, his wife (played by Rebecca Hall) says to Borden "some days you love magic more than you love me." At the end of the film, you find out why there is such a distinction but I thought Christian Bale did a good job of showing the two sides evenly.
Hugh Jackman has only worked with Chris Nolan in this one film (it's unusual that Nolan uses actors only once as seen with Christian Bale and Michael Caine), but I'm glad it was this one.
Robert Angier is also a rather complex character, but he often lets his emotions show more than his rival. In this movie, Robert Angier mourns over the loss of his lover. She was the show girl who worked with Robert and Alfred when they were partners. Due to an unfortunate accident with a water tank, she dies. Alfred, obviously, is upset, but he is able to move on. Robert, however, is stricken with grief. He blames Alfred for the death of his lover (it was Alfred's job to tie the knots that she was supposed to be able to slip out of), and he makes it his mission to avenge her death by becoming a better magician than Alfred.
In my opinion, Hugh Jackman does a wonderful job of showing the emotional battle Robert Angier faces as he embarks on the journey to become the greatest magician. He really captures the anger and frustration as he tries to understand Alfred's techniques. Yet he also captures the sorrow and loneliness of someone who has lost a loved one. I was very impressed with his performance.
I really enjoyed Michael Caine's role in this movie. Like, more than the 7,000 other roles he's had. Michael Caine's character, Cutter, is Robert Angier's behind-the-scenes guy. He was the behind-the-scenes guy for both Alfred and Robert when they worked together, but when the went their separate ways, Cutter chose to stay with Robert. He still cares about Alfred, and Alfred about him, but he realizes that Robert will only work with him if Cutter only works with Robert.
Cutter is just a nice guy. He really is. He just wants Robert to be able to put on the best magic show he can. Yet, he sees Roberts destructive path of becoming obsessed with beating Alfred. Cutter tries to make Robert see reason, but he comes up fruitless. Only when Robert thinks he's beaten Alfred (that word "thinks" is very important) does he finally give up his one big trick.
I think Cutter was my favorite character in this movie.
I have a very strong love-hate relationship with Scarlett Johansson. In a couple movies, I don't like her one bit. Yet, in other movies, she impresses me (like Iron Man 2). I think I like her in this movie but I'm still not very sure.
Now her character, Olivia Wenscombe, is hired by Alfred to be his on-stage assistant. However, she acts as kind of a double-agent. Alfred sends her to work with Robert so he can have an insight into what Robert is doing. The first time I watched it, I was a bit confused as to who she really worked for, but the second time I watched it, everything was clear.
Scarlett Johansson does a good job at playing the very independent and confident, yet young and eager girl who wants to work with magic.
Overall, this film was very well-done for me. Not only in the story itself but also in the casting, set design, and costume. I thought everything was very nicely planned out and executed. I do not think that this is my favorite Chris Nolan film, but it's certainly one of the top. It showed me his ability to give an audience a complex story and do it in a way that isn't so confusing that it loses the audience's interest.
I know the word is ridiculously overused, but this film truly is brilliant.
Sources
Images-Google
Cast-IMDb
