Current Events > I LOVE The Prestige but I have one small critique. SPOILERS

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I didn't like how they initially tried to make Wolverine look like the good guy and than towards the end they made Batman the good guy instead. Hated that. If they were going to make it that both of them were dickheads then they should of just stuck with that from beginning to end.

They spent too much time establishing that Bale was a prick to then try to pull a 180 at the very end and act like he's a good guy. He was overall the more antagonistic of the two. Even when Jackman did coldhearted stuff to Bale he did them like a good guy would and had a reason to do them such as revenge for his wife. Nothing is wrong with that. What's wrong is the movie clearly says that they were both bad but still tried to do the good guy/bad guy thing. They should of just made them look like bad guys equally from the start. That's just my opinion. Still a good movie.
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Meh it never worked for me. Ultimately the deus ex machina of him cloning himself felt like something they threaded in because they had a really cool story but couldn't figure out how to explain him doing the trick.

It felt like a cop-out to me as opposed to any sort of clever writing. I think it's a well made film, but overrated as a story.

I wish his twin had a better disguise. If they were trying to hide the fact that Bale was playing the assistant, they failed.
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Yes it was a cop out but once Angier explained "it took courage to climb into that machine every night not knowing if I'd be the man in the box or the prestige". Now that was heavy.
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I always took it as them both being bad guys just different styles of them.

Even though Bolden apologizes for Sarah's death it's still clear they're to blame and the twin who didn't love her was far more selfish than the "sacrifice everything for art" ideal hes made out to hold. The one who loved Sarah absolutely sacrificed everything for the art.

It wasn't really a 180 as much as a look into the different personalities to show why he seemed so bi-polar throughout the movie.

TheDarkCircle posted...

Meh it never worked for me. Ultimately the deus ex machina of him cloning himself felt like something they threaded in because they had a really cool story but couldn't figure out how to explain him doing the trick.

It felt like a cop-out to me as opposed to any sort of clever writing. I think it's a well made film, but overrated as a story.

I like the original story more but TBH while it's a deus ex machina it's still reinforces the central theme of sacrificing everything even your identity (and thus your own life) to continue the persona of Anton the great. It actually speaks volumes about actors like Heath, Robin, and Jim IMO.
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Zeeak4444 posted...

I always took it as them both being bad guys just different styles of them.

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But honestly if there was a true bad guy then it is Cutter. He was the middle man, kind of like an instigator for both of them. At first he was on Angier's side and even encouraged him to get his hands dirty to reach his goals. Mid way through he dropped out saying "obsession is a young men's game". Then at the end he betrays Angier and sides with Borden literally aiding Borden to kill Angier.
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Scaramanga posted...

I wish his twin had a better disguise. If they were trying to hide the fact that Bale was playing the assistant, they failed.

This was my biggest problem with the movie. the twin's reveal falls flat because you could see he was a twin the whole time.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

neither of them was the "good guy". both of them ruined their lives and the lives of people around them because of their drive for ambition and one-upmanship. what you are supposed to take away from the film is not that either one was in the right, it was that they are both wrong, and that what either of them got wasn't worth what either of them sacrificed.

But they initially did the good guy/bad guy angle from the start. It was a bait and switch. You could relate to Angier more. He was more open minded and humbled while Borden came off as a forceful douchebag.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

so what? new information that changes the viewers' perception of characters is imparted gradually or at a late stage in the plot all the time.

I personally felt kinda betrayed because you invest in certain characters. Might have worked for some but it was a negative for me.
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gonna' post itt
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brrrrrrb
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DuranOfForcena posted...

EvalAngell posted...

Scaramanga posted...

I wish his twin had a better disguise. If they were trying to hide the fact that Bale was playing the assistant, they failed.

This was my biggest problem with the movie. the twin's reveal falls flat because you could see he was a twin the whole time.

if i had done a better job of paying attention to the assistant, i probably would have noticed, but i did not catch it at all on the first watch. they purposely downplayed his role a lot and hardly ever featured him straight on in the shot or in close-ups, and that little bit of misdirection worked on me, for one. on subsequent watches, it is obvious, of course.

really? It's incredibly obvious when Borden is talking to him while in prison. And he tells him to take care of his daughter and that he's sorry about Sara.
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