The Prestige Starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale

Every great magic trick consists of three acts.

The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't.

I saw the movie trailer for The Prestige, and I was expecting a duel between real life magicians in turn of the century London. They had me fooled with that illusion! The creepy sound effects, the fast editing... that was a nice movie trailer. It promised a supernatural effects-laden blockbuster with Dr Fate on one side and Dr Strange on the other, duking it out with magick between occasional stage shows. It didn't represent the movie at all.

The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it.

This was a great movie! But don't go expecting that supernatural effects-laden blockbuster. In fact, I would have to go out on a limb and put this as a potential sleeper hit like Donnie Darko or Fight Club that will do fair at the theater and extremely well on DVD. This movie is part whodunnit, part flashback sequence, and all intrigue, misdirection, and illusion. You will likely spend most of the early part of the movie wondering which magician you should like and which you should despise only to change your mind once or twice before it's over.

That's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.

Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento) definitely shows his Memento roots with the flashbacks in The Prestige. His skill as a writer and director really shine through. Even though the movie goes back and forth through time with memories and journal entries, the story is not difficult to follow... although you will only have the complete story at the very end of the movie. Whatever you do, don't let anyone ruin it for you! This was a neatly twisted ending like M. Night Shyamalan used to do. I figured out Sixth Sense early in the film, and I didn't see this coming! Many kudos to Mr. Nolan for filling the time between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with this wonderful period piece!

Christopher's old crime-fighting partners, Christian Bale (Little Women, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Reign of Fire, American Psycho, Batman Begins, The New World) and Michael Caine (Alfie, The Italian Job, Get Carter, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Miss Congeniality, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Bewitched, Batman Begins, Children of Men) gave completely bipolar performances. Michael Caine was lively, funny and believable as the prop master and technician for the stage magicians. His voice is perfect for the introductory monologue. It's really hard to believe Mr. Caine is over seventy. He was most definitely the vitality of this movie! His Batman costar, however, was quite the opposite.

While borrowing Mr. Caine's Batman Begins character's name for this movie, Mr. Bale didn't borrow any personality. Looking back, I suppose this was for the best. Magicians are all about secrets, and hiding your emotions are an important part of misdirection. And the times when the plot calls for it, Mr. Bale does pull out the stops. You'll be reminded of Bruce Wayne, but don't let that fool you. Is he the good magician or the evil one? He plays his cards so close it's hard to tell if you should like him or not, but don't mistake that for bad acting like I originally did.

Speaking of comic book heroes, Wolverine... I mean, Hugh Jackman (X-Men, Swordfish, X-Men 2: X-Men United, Van Helsing, X-Men 3: The Last Stand) was absolutely marvelous, true believers! The story really seems to be his, at least at first. With that sly smile and those charming ways, Mr. Jackman's magician seems to be the one you should be rooting for... or is he? Both men have passion, but Mr. Jackman seems so much more real. Again, this could all be a ruse, a part of the show and the illusion. Are you reading closely?

The surprise treat of the movie was David Bowie's Nikola Tesla. Mr. Bowie had Tesla down to a science with his quirky intelligence and intense suave. He was everything you would expect from the brilliant mad scientist "who invented the twentieth century" and much more. It is almost impossible to imagine this is the same performer that brought Jareth to life in Labyrinth. Mr. Bowie is truly a chameleon! You would do well to read up a bit on Nikola Tesla before seeing The Prestige so you can have some background on this enigmatic and important personality. On a side note, 2006 was proclaimed The Year of Nikola Tesla by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and the governments of Croatia and Serbia. It is good to see Tesla so wonderfully portrayed in this year dedicated to him.

My usual warning for parents: There are moments of violence and gore, including few on-screen deaths. While they are not gratuitous, they did seem a bit intense and realistic. Also, animal lovers will cringe once or twice. I do not believe most children under ten to thirteen will understand most of what is going on anyway, so they are not as likely to enjoy the movie. I'd advise you to leave the young ones at home with a babysitter for this movie. You'll enjoy it more without them anyway.

Go see The Prestige on October 20th, and be sure you watch carefully. You might miss something. Until next time, this is Michael Wyatt performing my next great feat: The Vanishing Critic. *poof!*