Thursday, December 14, 2006

Movie review - "The Prestige" (2006) ***1/2

Bit of a story to watching this: went to the cinema to watch something, anything - ended up going to Eragon, couldn't go past 15 minutes (Girl Zone hero who can't act, dragons, important stone, evil king - it was like something written and made by a computer), so decided to see something else. It was George St in Sydney - 16 theatres so could find something, right? Well, we'd seen Casino Royale and The Departed, couldn't face A Scanner Darkly or Saw III. Eventually picked this and didn't regret it.

Chris Nolan is a top director even when not at the exact top of his game - the film has a beautiful look, and fairly spanks along with some non-linear editing. Chris Bale and Michael Caine come off best from the cast - Hugh Jackman is a bit too naturally nice, and Scarlett Johannson, while looking splendid in a series of outfits, still comes across a bit high school musical. I kept wishing that Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff played the leads. You'll probably spot the twist but I still found it satisfying.

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