The Illusionist (2006)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Very Cool!!!

Simply Perfect

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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After a troubled childhood, suffering from poverty and being separated from his beloved due to social differences, a magician meets her again after many years of perfecting his skills around the world. He finds out that she is to be married to the future king of the empire but this is an aspect which won't make him stand away from what he once lost. Using his fabulous magic/illusion skills, he is determined to win her once and for all, slowly applying an incredible plan which will leave you stupefied.It's a movie which impresses through its magic and characters, keeping the viewer interested all the time in what will happen next. It has very well rounded characters which play an important role in creating this unique atmosphere which draws you into its heart. It managed to surprise me with its story, its characters, not to say the illusions which are simply overwhelming and the finale which simply leaves you breathless.It's a must see for magic lovers and a very good movie overall.

When making a "big reveal" film, a top-notch director must realize that the "reveal" cannot be the entire picture. One must also include fair doses of character development, believable actions, & compelling drama in order to make us care enough for the reveal to actually mean something. Sadly, Neil Burger does very little of that within "The Illusionist".For a basic plot summary, this period piece centers on stage magician Eisenheim (Edward Norton), who conjures up apparitions that are utterly stupefying. When Sophie (Jessica Biel), the former love of his life, comes back into the equation, Eisenheim must make the decision once and for all as to whether or not they can carve out a life together despite being from completely different social classes.Despite the fact that "The Illusionist" was clearly made with care and a very good intent, it ultimately fails to impress for two specific reasons:1. There really isn't much to get invested in. The characters are little more than cardboard cutouts (the human element is only "talked", not actually "lived"), while the events transpiring around them are never explained (e.g. Eisenheim's actual tricks).2. There is no "grit" to the picture whatsoever. In Christopher Nolan's masterpiece "The Prestige", a similar magic-themed film, the director takes you deep inside the world the characters are living in, pulling no punches along the way. We see it all...the good and the bad and all the raw emotions that result from it. In "The Illusionist", however, stereotypical "class differences" and "the controlling husband" are used in place of real emotion. Those stereotypes may have been true of the era, but in this case they needed to be felt instead of just referenced.Overall, then, I cannot recommend this one to those who like their movies deep and full of character growth, as it is quite superficial all the way around. Yes, it does have a "mind-blowing" reveal, but because it fails in so many areas before that point, it loses all its credibility, so to speak. I highly recommend "The Prestige" as an alternative yet still containing very similar themes.

My friend recommended this film to me saying it reminded him of Now You See Me, though I don't see much of a correlation except for the magical element. The story is not that focused on the magical element though that does play a big part in creating the illusion of the film.The acting is great, with the chemistry sizzling between Norton and Biel. Norton carries his character well and his charisma shines through the screen. Biel too does great in her role and with the costumes smoothly fits into that time era. What really shines as well is the acting by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Eleanor Tomlinson who play the young versions of Eisenheim and Sophie. The emotions they convey transcend the screen and feel pretty authentic.The setting of the film creates a nice atmosphere that complements the time period they are depicting. The colours have a very reminiscent feel to them with brownish and dark colours illustrating the past era. The costumes too are elegant and classy with long trench coats for the men and frilly dresses for the women- though the only female character in the film is pretty much Sophie. My goodness, I had a pretty big problem with that. Sophie was the only female character who was kind of like the other protagonist, but then she doesn't get much screen time. What. I was flipping out a little. Adding to that, I was a little peeved at the introduction of Asian characters who didn't speak and only served as muscle power.The story itself though is not entirely unpredictable, is still quite fascinating. However, I wished the film had shown more magical tricks, instead of focusing so much on the romance line. Also, the film cuts through the chronological order quite a bit which for the most part helped in creating the mystery of the story, but some bits were still a little confusing to match the events altogether. Overall though it was still a well made film with great acting and an interesting storyline.Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com