The Illusionist

The unpopular choice to The Prestige, but the better one. The Prestige predicated itself on the idea that character development could be satisfied within a story of so many twists and turns that a convulated plot would work if it had the right bells and whistles. The high density of cinematography is the main ingrediant to the bells and whistles, but the Illusionist succeeds because of a better focus. People complain the ending of the Illusionist is too predictable, but that is a non-issue. The charming story and three main actors carry the film. So much of the film is dependent on character interaction that the actors are used to satisfying ends. The Prestige becomes so complicated that the actors are speaking lines to support an ongoing puzzle that calls itself a plot. The simplicity of the Illusionist also has a greater structural purpose. The Prestige sees an ambitious drama in the story of competing magicians and mytholigical implications, but the Illusionist only sees folkore. A children's story can easily be manipulated to look more meaningful than it is but taking the story outside of its range is just denying certain essentials. Mythologly was not meant to meet modern realms of structure and meaning. The simple romanticism of The Illusionist makes it ring true to the nature of its story.