Iluzjonista

As a historical blockbuster for the consumerist audience, The Illusionist features oversimplified characters and emotions created by tacky lighting that blurs the image beyond their faces, like in the worst soap operas. On the other hand, the story is nicely fast-paced and Bratislava and Prague on the background of Philip Glass’s music seem irresistible, almost fairytale-like. It’s a bit surprising that the most remarkable character (and performance) is not delivered by Edward Norton, but by Paul Giamatti. Had it not been for the lame attempt to impress us with the point, which any thinking viewer can guess at least ten minutes beforehand, and especially all the plot holes and half-baked execution, I might have given it a “guilty” four stars. (15.02.2009)

Nice shot and extraordinarily beautifully musically painted mysterious film, which was filmed in southern Bohemia and chose a fictional speculative story from the old Austro-Hungarian Empire as its subject. Thanks to the camera, showcased tricks, and mentioned music, this film is very consumable, except for the casting of Jessica Biel in the lead female role. It is a standard Hollywood affair with several pleasant script twists. Overall impression: 80%. A film about love and, above all, about magic. (21.11.2008)

A fairytale dressed up as an ingenious show for adults. The Illusionist shows its colors in the title. For most of the movie it pretends to be something different than what it is. It seems to be a clever and well thought out picture until the last five minutes when it pulls out its true colors and it turns out to be woefully dumb. I mean the explanation for idiots at the end is so pointless when everything was obvious an hour before the end. I’m more fascinated about the fact that the creators all of a sudden ignore the only part that would have demolished this like a house of cards: the “spirits". This certainly is no disappointment in terms of the acting, but I must admit that I was expecting something more from such a cast. Up until his performance at the Hofburg in front of the nobility, The Illusionist is outstanding, then it is just good and at the end almost ridiculous. Apart from that, it’s a bit longer than is needed to be. But what makes it interesting for the Czechs among us are the filming locations and, for everybody, Glass’s music which occasionally does too much the work itself. (16.02.2008)

The illusionist is very unlucky as he directly clashed in time with another magic film, Nolan's The Prestige, against which he has no chance to withstand even without closer examination. While the second film sets darkness and nerve-wracking complex twists, Neil Burger makes do with only a slightly mysterious atmosphere and clearly defined characters - a good-evil-just-beautiful. Nevertheless, I liked this straightforward fairytale, even though it has serious logical gaps in its explanations, but thanks to the right magical mood and clearly defined genre rules, it is more than pleasant in its simplicity. (03.02.2007)

I wouldn't have expected such a bland performance from Norton (another Italian Job?), and maybe he didn't even know what ear-splitting lines the script would force him to let out of his mouth. The only thing that keeps this below-average fable afloat, with the look of a slightly more expensive TV production, is the great (and better from film to film) Giammatti, while the final Shyamalan-like twist stands on very shaky legs. And I might rename the whole film to "Hologram Man" – Eisenheim's stunts in the second half were closer to science fiction than to illusory shenanigans (nasty nitwit Lima). (09.01.2007)