Discussion
Last night I watched The Illusionist.
It was not a remarkable film, but is thoroughly enjoyable. I enjoy steadily paced films. The actors, for the most part, performed their roles well, although I thought the actions of one character in particular were not fully developed. His sudden change of heart came without explanation. It rates 7.6 on IMDB, which is surprisingly high, but it is pure entertainment without a message or complex meaning. Edward Norton, great in Red Dragon, was OK without being dominant. Jessica Biel had little to do but what she did she did well. One actor stood out though.
Rufus Sewell, an actor I've seen a few times but not been particularly struck by, nailed his character, the intelligent, utterly selfish and psychotic Prince Leopold.
To quote the film, everything you see is an illusion of course, but he was utterly believable. His part was the most complicated but afterwards, when thinking about what went on in the film, you could see the motive behind his every act.
So 7/10 is a reasonable mark, but Sewell's performance gives it that extra 0.6 perhaps.
The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
It was not a remarkable film, but is thoroughly enjoyable. I enjoy steadily paced films. The actors, for the most part, performed their roles well, although I thought the actions of one character in particular were not fully developed. His sudden change of heart came without explanation. It rates 7.6 on IMDB, which is surprisingly high, but it is pure entertainment without a message or complex meaning. Edward Norton, great in Red Dragon, was OK without being dominant. Jessica Biel had little to do but what she did she did well. One actor stood out though.
Rufus Sewell, an actor I've seen a few times but not been particularly struck by, nailed his character, the intelligent, utterly selfish and psychotic Prince Leopold.
To quote the film, everything you see is an illusion of course, but he was utterly believable. His part was the most complicated but afterwards, when thinking about what went on in the film, you could see the motive behind his every act.
So 7/10 is a reasonable mark, but Sewell's performance gives it that extra 0.6 perhaps.
The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
I think it deserves a higher score. It's a well thought out story with mostly well developed characters.
I liked Rufus S but the stand out character was the inspector played by Paul Giammatti because we learned as he learned which is good storytelling from both the pov of the script and the actor.
I liked Rufus S but the stand out character was the inspector played by Paul Giammatti because we learned as he learned which is good storytelling from both the pov of the script and the actor.
Derek Smith said:
Last night I watched The Illusionist.
The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
Was that The Prestige?The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/
I had that recommended to me and it is on my Planner as yet unwatched.
Northbloke said:
Derek Smith said:
Last night I watched The Illusionist.
The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
Was that The Prestige?The only reason I watched it was because I thought it was a film I'd seen some time ago about a battle between to magicians. I'm glad I was wrong.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/
I had that recommended to me and it is on my Planner as yet unwatched.
Derek Smith said:
Rufus Sewell, an actor I've seen a few times but not been particularly struck by, nailed his character, the intelligent, utterly selfish and psychotic Prince Leopold.
Love R Sewell, always been a fan of his, unrelated, I used to get compared to him a while back. He has very striking features. Zen was one of thebest things on the Beeb a few years ago.I re-watched the Illusionist, it wasn't as good as I remember, it doesn't hold up to repeated viewing and has some ropey plot structure, Ed was flat. Unlike the Prestige I feel, which gets better with repeated viewings.
Smollet said:
Tango13 said:
Rufus Sewell reminds me a little of Oliver Read, gives off that slightly on edge aura, like he could go full retard at the slightest provocation.
Reminds me very much of Ian McShane in many ways. He was excellent in A Knight's Tale as mentioned elsewhere. The Don of Croy said:
Smollet said:
Tango13 said:
Rufus Sewell reminds me a little of Oliver Read, gives off that slightly on edge aura, like he could go full retard at the slightest provocation.
Reminds me very much of Ian McShane in many ways. He was excellent in A Knight's Tale as mentioned elsewhere. Gassing Station | TV, Film, Video Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff