Please don't spend money on this.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Blistering performances.

It's a very good movie, great photography, sound score and a awesome cast... and there's the problem, with that cast I expected more... but it's still a great movie to watch

I was watching The Illusionist expecting something like The Prestige, more unfortunately is much lower, even though different movie where the only thing in common is the magic, The Illusionist is a good cast, Edward Norton as well, and the rest of the well competent cast the direction of Neil Burger is good, the film script has some problems, more is competent, the soundtrack is good, the pace is more or less, the film can be tedious, photography and costumes are good, they have good times, and the last minutes of the film are good also, more the Illusionist sins in several aspects, most have a good time and it worth taking a look. Note 7.1

My friend recommended this film to me saying it reminded him of Now You See Me, though I don't see much of a correlation except for the magical element. The story is not that focused on the magical element though that does play a big part in creating the illusion of the film.The acting is great, with the chemistry sizzling between Norton and Biel. Norton carries his character well and his charisma shines through the screen. Biel too does great in her role and with the costumes smoothly fits into that time era. What really shines as well is the acting by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Eleanor Tomlinson who play the young versions of Eisenheim and Sophie. The emotions they convey transcend the screen and feel pretty authentic.The setting of the film creates a nice atmosphere that complements the time period they are depicting. The colours have a very reminiscent feel to them with brownish and dark colours illustrating the past era. The costumes too are elegant and classy with long trench coats for the men and frilly dresses for the women- though the only female character in the film is pretty much Sophie. My goodness, I had a pretty big problem with that. Sophie was the only female character who was kind of like the other protagonist, but then she doesn't get much screen time. What. I was flipping out a little. Adding to that, I was a little peeved at the introduction of Asian characters who didn't speak and only served as muscle power.The story itself though is not entirely unpredictable, is still quite fascinating. However, I wished the film had shown more magical tricks, instead of focusing so much on the romance line. Also, the film cuts through the chronological order quite a bit which for the most part helped in creating the mystery of the story, but some bits were still a little confusing to match the events altogether. Overall though it was still a well made film with great acting and an interesting storyline.Read more movie reviews at: championangels.wordpress.com

It's late 19th century Vienna. Chief Inspector Walter Uhl (Paul Giamatti) is arresting illusionist Eisenheim (Edward Norton) for Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Uhl recounts Eisenheim's life story to the Prince. Young poor Eisenheim was in love with high born Duchess Sophie but they were separated by force. He wanders the world learning illusions and returns to find Sophie (Jessica Biel) engaged to arrogant Prince Leopold. The prince dislikes Eisenheim and is also scheming to overthrow his father, King Leopold of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The film looks beautiful with great looking sets. The acting is generally good. Giamatti is playing a conflicted character. Biel is better than her usual self. Norton is a compelling lead. Sewell is suitably villainy. I like this film although I would like a bit more intensity. There is mostly a brooding tension. Also the final twist is not surprising but it is fitting.