Review of The Illusionist (2006) by Seth S — 13 Jul 2012
Its a decent movie. Completely overshadowed by Chris Nolan's far superior, The Prestige. The movie itself wasn't bad, it just wasn't as good as Prestige.
The story is of a magician named Eisenheim. He is in love with Sophie, but she is engaged to Prince Leopold. Eisenheim and Sophie do get together, but the prince finds out about it. The movie goes on from there with with Eisenheim using his talents for magic to run away with Sophie.
The movie makes the magic seem more magical then The Prestige. In The Prestige, they explained every magic trick in a practical way, no magic involved. This movie starts with the magic seeming like its a real supernatural thing. In the very end, they try to explain it away, saying that there was no magic involved, that all the things Eisenheim did onstage were tricks, not magic. It feels really weak.
Ed Norton plays Eisenheim. He is a very underrated actor, and he does a fine job here. Its nice to see Jessica Biel in a serious role. Also, two nice performances are Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell as Inspector Uhl and Prince Leopold.
Overall, this movie is decent, it tried to have a mind-blowing ending, but it wasn't that great. It is a happy ending though. The movie can't hold a candle to The Prestige, but its decent.
"Everything you have seen here has been an illusion." 6/10.
This review of The Illusionist (2006) was written by Seth S on 13 Jul 2012.
The Illusionist has generally received very positive reviews.
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