Sigfred Storstrand’s review published on Letterboxd:
"This movie was overshadowed by The Prestige because one year cant inhabit two movies about magicians"
Nononono. Let me stop you right there. This movie was overshadowed by The Prestige because its a worse movie.
Scratch that, it is a bad movie.
Everything from Rufus Sewell's character, who simply screamed alot. To Jessica Biels character who was nothing but tits and ass in a dress. To Nortons instantly forgettable performance (one of his very few), and Paul Giamatti's typecasting as quasi-douche.
Whatever the opposite word of "seemless" is, is the word i would use to describe the hair and makeup artistry. A very confusing cinematic choice for an opening scene that left me wondering if i was watching a cam-rip because of the unnatural projector-shaking that was so overdone and stylistically incorrect. Transitions that tried to pay homage to 100 year old movies, without the movie really having anything to do with them, except for the period it was set in.
And worst of all. The story. Yet another Romeo and Juliet story, except this time, with magic (wow).
You know the feeling of watching a movie, and you see a twist coming, and then disregarding the twist, because it would literally be so stupid that no scriptwriter would ever even consider it. Well yeah. That.
The Prestige is recognized as a good movie, because it is a good movie. Do not blame the reception of The Illusionist on Nolan. As much as it sometimes pains me to say this, Nolan is a great director, and he crafted a movie incredibly superior to this sappy, poorly written, poorly acted, poorly staged period piece.
That is why we still talk about and remember The Prestige, and not this generic bland drama.
Also, why did Paul Giamatti have so much acne on his forehead?
Sigfred Storstrand liked these reviews
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_6451e217-bf7e-4967-98b5-e551ad7b0ec7" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-6451e217-bf7e-4967-98b5-e551ad7b0ec7'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div -tile300x250 -alignleft -bottommargin'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'med_rect_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-6451e217-bf7e-4967-98b5-e551ad7b0ec7'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-6451e217-bf7e-4967-98b5-e551ad7b0ec7'));
' ].join(''); if ( adsScript && adsScript === 'bandsintown' && adsPlatforms && ((window.isIOS && adsPlatforms.indexOf("iOS") >= 0) || (window.isAndroid && adsPlatforms.indexOf("Android") >= 0)) && adsLocations && adsMode && ( (adsMode === 'include' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) >= 0) || (adsMode === 'exclude' && adsLocations.indexOf(window.adsLocation) == -1) ) ) { var opts = { artist: "", song: "", adunit_id: 100005950, div_id: "cf_async_a0db2f70-733c-444c-bbbd-3ac00f310bbd" }; adUnit.id = opts.div_id; if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//srv.tunefindforfans.com/fruits/apricots.js";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; } else { adUnit.id = 'pw-a0db2f70-733c-444c-bbbd-3ac00f310bbd'; adUnit.className = 'pw-div'; adUnit.setAttribute('data-pw-' + (renderMobile ? 'mobi' : 'desk'), 'sky_btf'); if (target) { target.insertAdjacentElement('beforeend', adUnit); } else { tag.insertAdjacentElement('afterend', adUnit); } window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => { adUnit.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', kicker); window.ramp.que.push(function () { window.ramp.addTag('pw-a0db2f70-733c-444c-bbbd-3ac00f310bbd'); }); }, { once: true }); } } tag.remove(); })(document.getElementById('script-a0db2f70-733c-444c-bbbd-3ac00f310bbd'));
