The Prestige

Let me preface this post by saying that I don't think there will be any true spoilers, but that you may want to proceed with caution just in case.

The Prestige should be pretty much one of the best movies ever. It has an amazing cast of talented actors including three of my favorite actors of all time: Michael Caine, Hugh Jackman, and Christian Bale. It is about magic and illusion and it involves mystery and excitement.

The premise of the movie is that two major magicians of an earlier time period begin as friendly, but after a tragic accident on-stage, the two men form a bitter rivalry of one-upsmanship and revenge. The previews said something like, "You'll watch it once and then immediately want to watch it again."

I wish that had been true. All of the elements of a good movie are there, and yet I left it with total disappointment and a sour taste in my mouth. I don't usually buy movies without having seen them first, but I was so excited to see this and there were some girls at work who were literally counting down the days until this movie came out on DVD and they could buy it. It was on sale and I couldn't get it from Netflix for some time, so I bit the bullet and bought it.

Now I'm regretting that decision.

I can't say too much without giving away major parts of the plot, but here's my major beef. It all has to do with my preference for books that show growth and redemption in characters. I like books and movies where characters grow, change, and become better. This movie is about rivalry and revenge and by the time the movie was over all I felt was the cold sting of revenge. No fulfillment, no satisfaction. I'm not saying that every movie should have a happy ending. I got over that opinion once I left high school. I must admit that I would have liked this movie better if the ending had been a bit different (not that it's entirely sad). Any twists and turns were ones that I saw coming in advance and so I had little to no surprises throughout the film.

Now, don't get me wrong. I didn't totally dislike the film. I did like some of the symbolic elements involved and the use of foreshadowing was amazingly well done, but the other elements just weighed these out. I think it's the final scenes that just left the bitter taste in my mouth.

So, if you have seen it, feel free to weigh-in. Maybe you can convince me that this movie I bought is most wonderful. Or maybe you want to buy it from me for the cheap price of ten dollars.