Tricky treat

Review by Vives Anunciacion

The Prestige
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson
Touchstone Pictures
*** ½ (3 ½ stars)

At more than two hours, the movie is slightly (just a little bit) difficult to finish – there are so many twists and turns and revelations, one can’t wait for the ending to come. But it’s this anticipation that makes the movie The Prestige a rousing success – just like a great magic act, one can’t wait to see the magician reveal his trick.

In this case, the magician is director Christopher Nolan and his tools are Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine and a cleverly adapted script from the novel by Christopher Priest. The Prestige is more about two magicians’ obsessive pursuit to create the ultimate magic trick and not about the trick itself. Look closely, they didn’t use digital effects in this movie. This is old-school filmmaking at one of its finest.

Christian Bale (formerly Batman) and Hugh Jackman (formerly Wolverine) play Alfred Borden and Robert Angier respectively, young rivals engaged in a bitter personal war to become the supreme magician in Victorian-era London. Borden is the better inventor of tricks, while Angier is the better showman. The movie shifts the story between the two with flashbacks and flashbacks-within-flashbacks, until, like a magic trick, it reaches the ultimate reveal in the end.

The movie’s strongest point is how Nolan’s treatment manages to play on the audience’s sympathies, made even more effective by strong performances from Bale and Jackman. In the beginning, it’s easy to sympathize with Angier and get mad at Borden. This reverses towards the mid part. By the time the movie ends, both characters are chest-deep in dirt. Walang bida dito, dahil pagdating sa dulo, pareho silang kontrabida. From this standpoint masasabing magaling ang pagganap nina Bale at Jackman sa kanilang mga karakter kaysa sabihing flatly obsessed ang mga karakter nila from the start. Support acting, cinematography and costumes are also top-notch in this period-thriller, with a notable appearance by rock idol David Bowie as the inventor Nikola Tesla.

The Prestige is compelling to watch as a psycho-thriller, but deep inside its handsome exterior lies a story that relies significantly on a few “electrifying” tricks as its main device. So much for well threshed out characters, the devices are not as inventive. That maybe is the only weak link to an otherwise mind-blowing illusion.