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jekylljuice · 03-26-2008, 03:50 AM

The Illusionist

I seem to remember, when first this movie came out, it receiving a lot of unfavourable comparisons to the Prestige, another magician-orientated movie released around the same time. With hindsight, this comparison strikes me as being pretty unfair, since the similarities between the two really are superficial at best. Nolan's film may well be the superior specimen overall, but Neil Burger's has a perfectly enjoyable and engrossing storyline all of its own, with a pretty unexpected twist (I didn't pick up on any of the signposts anyway). In many ways, this can even be considered the antithesis of the Prestige, since whereas the latter was a delicious character study concerning some of the darker and more repuslive recesses of the human psyche (and certainly, that the two lead characters were essentially both antagonists proved to be one of the most refreshing things about it) the Illusionist is actually quite a charming and uplifting little mystery story. That in itself doesn't make it any better or worse, just different, and more than worthy of being judged upon its own merits.

03-26-2008, 03:50 AM	#1406
jekylljuice Executive Weasel Ball jekylljuice was here. Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: the 44th floor (not counting the mezzanine) Posts: 1,568	The Illusionist I seem to remember, when first this movie came out, it receiving a lot of unfavourable comparisons to the Prestige, another magician-orientated movie released around the same time. With hindsight, this comparison strikes me as being pretty unfair, since the similarities between the two really are superficial at best. Nolan's film may well be the superior specimen overall, but Neil Burger's has a perfectly enjoyable and engrossing storyline all of its own, with a pretty unexpected twist (I didn't pick up on any of the signposts anyway). In many ways, this can even be considered the antithesis of the Prestige, since whereas the latter was a delicious character study concerning some of the darker and more repuslive recesses of the human psyche (and certainly, that the two lead characters were essentially both antagonists proved to be one of the most refreshing things about it) the Illusionist is actually quite a charming and uplifting little mystery story. That in itself doesn't make it any better or worse, just different, and more than worthy of being judged upon its own merits. __________________ That's it, The End, But you'll get over it, My Friend. Last edited by jekylljuice; 03-26-2008 at 03:51 AM.