The Prestige

I was in sixth form when the Sixth Sense came out at the cinema, and unlike many of the people in my school I didn't go and see it the weekend it came out. That proved to be a big mistake when in the common room one afternoon and some loudmouth revealed the plot twist. When I went to see the movie that weekend I spent most of the time trying to work out if I would have been able to guess what was going to be revealed thus ruining the only good movie M Night Shyamalan has ever made... although that isn't really saying much...

I love movies with a twist, particularly one that is so unexpected (Usual Suspects and The Game spring to mind here), which is why I found the Prestige a little disappointing. I'm not saying all movies must have a twist for me to enjoy them, but if they do have a twist I want it to be something so surprising and unexpected that it leaves me with that sense of awe - and in the case of the Usual Suspects or The Game a desire to watch the movie again and again to see what cues I missed.

The Prestige tries to twist and turn its way through what I feel was a slightly disappointing storyline, where the only real dilemma I had was which character was the most annoying (Bale as a result of his accent). I hate sounding so big headed but the surprise twists weren't surprises to me; while I hadn't reached a firm conclusion all the "surprises" were thoughts that had already popped into my head as the story developed.

This film surprised me in being in the Top 100, even before I had seen it, and having watched it my opinion hasn't changed. If you want to see a movie like this then I would suggest watching the Illusionist instead - better story, better twist, only let down by a lack of either Piper Perabo or Scarlett Johansson...