*** Spoiler Alert ***

I watched both The Illusionist and The Prestige in the last week, finally. Yes, I know I’m a few months late. For two movies set both set in the early 1900s, in Europe, about magicians they are very different movies. Despite the similar settings I was surprised how different the movies really were. The Illusionist is, at its heart, a love story while The Prestige is a drama/thriller. Due to the characters being magicians both have a lot of mystery in them. Both have that moment where you find out how the magician’s signature trick is done, but the effect of this in each movie is extremely different.

When the big reveal occurs in The Illusionist arrives you’re ending the movie happily ever after. The story takes some unique twists and turns as you get to this point, but in the end the hero gets the girl and the bed guy dies. You do spend a good portion of the movie thinking that the main character’s love interest is dead, but when you get to the end and find out she is alive all of the illusions are revealed to see how a couple in love have beat the odds to live their lives together.

In The Prestige the big reveal at the end shows you how far a man will go to be the best in the world at his trade. Unlike the love story in The Illusionist, the love interest in The Prestige are there to help show the effects of two men battling each other to be the best magician in the world. The battle these two men take cost them dearly and in the end you see the true cost of their obsession. There is no “happily ever after” in The Prestige for the main character. He becomes the best magician in the world but it cost him everything. His adversary never can top his opponents best trick, but he gets to keep a small portion of the things he life and family. Yet, for both characters the cost is high and the rewards few.

I like both movies but for very different reasons. I like The Illusionist because of the final portion of the movie where all of the questions get answered and the tricks revealed. I liked The Prestige because of how the characters interact with each other as the plot progresses. I’d recommend both movies to anyone looking for a good drama/mystery.