Rating ~ 8 / 10
Synopsis: From the time they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. (From Moviefone.com)
Let me start at the movie's greatest strengh; its acting. Bale, as usual, gives a magnificent performance and Jackman does equally well. Caine hands in a respectable effort, and the same goes for Andy Serkis (Better known for his work as Gollum and King Kong). David Bowie even makes a few appearences. (Although his screen time was brief, he did an excellent job with the material.)
The costumes, sets, and general production were also top-knotch. Most of the cinematography is beautiful, some of it is even stunning. However, the editing and score could have been improved. The score isn't memorable and slightly reminiscent of the music from Batman Begins (But much less prevalent.)
The editing, truth be told, is fine. I just had to mention it because of the screw ups at the very end of the film. There's a slow reveal, and just as the camera reaches its mark, the credits roll. The snap ending just doesn't flow with the slow moving camera, and since it's the last bit of footage it leaves a bad taste. To top that off, a Thom Yorke song starts as soon as the credits begin to roll. Now, I love Radiohead, but they don't quite fit in with the type of movie. Think of it this way, if you just finished watching a horror movie, would you want a country song to start playing?
The movie feels long. Its running time is just over two hours, but it feels longer than that due to the slow beginning. The film does pick up speed during the second and third acts, though. Besides the running time, some people may be discouraged from seeing it because of the dark mood. This is a drama. Very rarely is it lighthearted, and the characters have unlikable attributes. The film plays heavily on the theme of obsession.
I know this review has taken a negative tune, but I actually enjoyed the movie. Will I buy it on DVD? Maybe. Would I object to seeing it again? Not at all. In fact, I object to the biggest complaint levelled against the movie.
Plenty of people claimed the twists (And there are several) were too obvious and the rest of the duration is pointless, since everyone can figure out the surprises. My opinion; so what? The twists aren't slapped on during the last five minutes so that they can be fully developed. They don't seem half-baked or included just to shock the viewer. They are fully fledged parts of the story. Besides that, it doesn't matter if the viewer sees the twists before the characters. The audience is there to see how the actors react to the changes. Had this been a straight-up mystery, the twists would be more important.
Overall, I feel this is a very interesting film. It's not for everyone (Such as those that enjoy short, less serious, straightforward entertainment) but I'd recommend checking it out while it's still in theaters.
I think it's clear that Cutter knows at the end, since he walks right past an undisguised Borden (on his way to shoot Angier) and returns Borden's daughter at the end as well. I'm wondering when he made the connection, since it obviously wasn't when he was working with both Borden and Angier.
