![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Got this from Netflix and watched it this weekend. M. had previously read the source material, a book of the same name by Christopher Priest.
Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play rival stage magicians in London around the end of the 19th century. Directed by Christopher Nolan, this movie had almost no overtones of Batman vs. Wolverine. Supporting cast includes Michael Caine as Jackman's trick engineer, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla.
A psychological drama, the essential question of the movie is, "How far will you go, what will you sacrifice, to destroy the man you hate?" Without going into spoiler territory, I can only say, you have to see this movie.
Jackman and Bale give brilliant performances as the obsessive rivals, and I was very surprised, given what I know of both David Bowie and Nikola Tesla, to see Tesla supply the role of reserved voice of reason in the film. Of course, he also supplies the potentially-civilization-destroying* machine around which the movie's endgame revolves, so take a reserved facade for what you will.
I was amused to note that the bitter, historical rivalry between Tesla and Thomas Edison was on display in the movie, but it was never explained or described; it was just there.
M. says the movie departs sufficiently from the book that one need not worry that knowing the book's secrets will ruin the movie. I think I'll be reading the book myself, as soon as I finish _Canticle For Leibowitz_, which until recently had been sitting untouched on my shelf for years because I am a bad scifi fan.
(ETA: I'll also be interested to see how well the movie holds up to a second viewing, when I do know all the secrets--a big piece of my reaction on first viewing was the shock at the unfolding mystery, each of which revelations came at about the time my brain was serving up the appropriate, "what about..." notion.)
*I'm happy to expound on this in the comments, but don't want to spoil the movie here in the review proper.
Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play rival stage magicians in London around the end of the 19th century. Directed by Christopher Nolan, this movie had almost no overtones of Batman vs. Wolverine. Supporting cast includes Michael Caine as Jackman's trick engineer, and David Bowie as Nikola Tesla.
A psychological drama, the essential question of the movie is, "How far will you go, what will you sacrifice, to destroy the man you hate?" Without going into spoiler territory, I can only say, you have to see this movie.
Jackman and Bale give brilliant performances as the obsessive rivals, and I was very surprised, given what I know of both David Bowie and Nikola Tesla, to see Tesla supply the role of reserved voice of reason in the film. Of course, he also supplies the potentially-civilization-destroying* machine around which the movie's endgame revolves, so take a reserved facade for what you will.
I was amused to note that the bitter, historical rivalry between Tesla and Thomas Edison was on display in the movie, but it was never explained or described; it was just there.
M. says the movie departs sufficiently from the book that one need not worry that knowing the book's secrets will ruin the movie. I think I'll be reading the book myself, as soon as I finish _Canticle For Leibowitz_, which until recently had been sitting untouched on my shelf for years because I am a bad scifi fan.
(ETA: I'll also be interested to see how well the movie holds up to a second viewing, when I do know all the secrets--a big piece of my reaction on first viewing was the shock at the unfolding mystery, each of which revelations came at about the time my brain was serving up the appropriate, "what about..." notion.)
*I'm happy to expound on this in the comments, but don't want to spoil the movie here in the review proper.