More so than his Batman Begins or Insomnia, The Prestige is a return to the demanding cinematic mind games that defined director Christopher Nolan’s 2000 breakthrough, Memento. As it traces the diabolical feud between two magicians in Victorian England, the movie offers hidden identities, flashbacks within flashbacks and mesmerizing magic tricks. In other words, its sleeves are stuffed. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play the dueling magicians as tortured, tattered men, which only makes their story more fascinating. Altogether, this is that rare magic trick that still holds its power even after you’ve learned all of its secrets.
