The Prestige

"A Friendship, That Became a Rivalry...A Rivalry, That Became a Battle"

To make it simple, here is the synopsis from cinema online:

“In 1878 two young stage magicians clash in a darkened saloon during the course of a fraudulent seance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and exposure, secrets and revelations, as they feud to outwit and destroy one another. Their rivalry takes them both to the peak of their careers, but with terrible consequences”


So as you can see, it is about magic. BUT, it is not merely a normal magic show; the whole storyline is the magic. As what magician always said “Are you watching closely?”. Yes, that's the tag-line for "The Prestige". So I advice you guys, reeeeaaaaallly concentrate on this movie; because if you blink and miss the sleight-of-hand that this movie really is, you’ll be surprise just like myself and everybody else.

Again, the "The Prestige" IS about magic, or rather the third part of a magic act where - to quote the magician's manager Harry Cutter's words (played by Michael Caine) - "the astonishment takes place as the audience cannot unravel a magician's secrets". So when you watch the movie, don’t expect the magic too ‘vast’ as the magic trick shown is still in the development stage of the Victorian era, aight?

As I was saying, in magic, there are three acts. There's 'a “pledge”, a “turn” and the “prestige”. To make it simple, The pledge is like the first act, to create a suspense before they cover the object, “turn” is when you reveal that the object has already disappear and “the prestige” in short, if a magician makes something disappear, he must make it reappear or there wouldn't be a climax and the audience's delight at the trick. And that's what "The Prestige" is all about. Therefore, the key to fathoming this most unusual movie, lies in its title.

Christopher Nolan, the director is a very-very-very clever indeed. It is so smart that you WILL appreciate the movie. After you watched it, you will realise that he IS doing 'a pledge, a turn and the prestige' without you knowing it, until the end. The whole movie is one big magic trick! (aih.. makin over excited plak aku ni..haha) The acting performances by Hugh Jackman, Christopher Bale and Michael Caine were the best I have seen in a long while. The only objection I had to the film was that it was a little long in the beginning, that my sister and my mom almost fell asleep. But Hambal (my cousin) and I, of course, were concentrating like we’re one of the critics. Hahaha..

Anyhow, to me, they are already a winner, and they should be up for some academy award statues or whatever…and by the way, since the handsome Hugh Jackman is from the movie X-men and Christian Bale from Batman begins, well… you will see a Wolverine Vs. Batman actions in there. So who wins? Go see this as soon as you can, you will not be disappointed.