Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

jessy zaki "Everything you have seen here has been an illusion". it's the best quote I've ever heard in a movie especially now in a fake world with fake leaders, incidents, people and almost everything around us.actually it's not a call for skepticism, but for expecting everything could happen, reading between lines and how you can control others. For the movie, the direction is at its best. it's a joyful journey in the world of magic with great cinematography and wise performances. background score is suitable for the mood of the movie making you wait for what is gonna happen. What really impressed me is the climax, and what a climax! if you haven't watched it yet, go and give it a watch now at least for once :)

marieltrokan The privilege of identical being weak is punishment of difference being strongStrong is powerDifference is not powerPunishment is not powerNot power not power being power is not power not power not powerNot power not power is not not power power Not not power power is not powerNot power not power is not power power notNot power power not is power notPower not is identity of non-powerIdentity of non-power is non-identity of powerNon-identity of power is non-power of powerNon-power of power is nothing from power of powerNothing from power of power is nothing from no powerFrom no power is power from nothingNothing power from nothing is no power from no powerFrom no power is powerNo power power is from power powerFrom power power is power power fromPower power from is no power fromNo power from is power not fromPower not from is power not directionPower not direction is direction not powerDirection is absenceLocation is absencePresence is nowhereNowhere is contrastLocation is not contrastLocation is sameSymmetry is locationRepetition is locationHistory is locationReality is locationLocation is contrastMovement is free to exist outside of locationLocation isn't free to exist outside of movementLocation is movementMovement is locationMovement can be travelled to

Filipe Neto This film is a kind of romantic tale based on the seemingly impossible passion between a poor boy who becomes an illusionist and a rich girl who belongs to the highest aristocracy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Separated in their youth, they will be reunited years later, but she is engaged to the cruel Crown Prince. When she appears dead, the magician will do everything he can do for the Prince to be investigated.The first thing I must say is a warning: this story is totally fiction, although it has been made on a historical background. The Austrian prince of this film never existed. Now let's continue... When I first started watching the movie I realized one thing: it's pleasant, entertaining and the main characters are good enough to make the public feel emotions about them. The audience will probably like the magician and the duchess but will also quickly feel angry for the prince. This mix of emotions links the audience more strongly to the screen and will hold their attention until the end. However, the ending was what surprised me the most, since I was hardly expecting anything more, but when the movie seems to be over, the final part truly begins. Edward Norton was quite convincing in the character of the impassioned illusionist, as well as Rufus Sewell and Paul Giamatti. Jessica Biel also looked good, although her character didn't have the same presence of the male cast. In short, this film is very interesting and is really well done. It undoubtedly deserves to be watched and I am sure it will please almost any audience.

sharky_55 Why are the two leads of The Illusionist, Eisenheim and Sophie, so drawn to each other throughout their lives? We are apparently shown in a long flashback sequence. Anyone would recognise this as a flashback even without the words - the softening bloom of the edges, the saturation of the yellows, the slight vignette effect, the ornate shallow focus. This is all very pretty, but it doesn't shed much light on their relationship, other then the fact that it is the classic rich girl drawn to the street tramp and his tricks. And later in the painfully slow, clichéd and draw out love scene, they silently stare into each other's eyes, and the camera keeps it all nice and PG, presenting only vague spots of skin in the flickering candlelight. Perhaps they are silent because after years apart they still have nothing to say. The film gives no indication of any kind that would justify the pair being the soul-mates they are; their characterisation is lazily empty (as are their atrociously inept accents, a result of the unnecessary decision to set the film in some vague, anachronistic period). But of course this type of film is not about the characters - it holds the same tension and mystery as a heist, or a detective story. It relies the audience, similar to the one at Eisenheim's magic shows, to not think too hard or pay complete attention...to be distracted by the obvious distractions that the magician holds up, or in this case, the director. There are a few clever moments; one is when Eisenheim greets Sophie after years apart with the conventional magician's test that proves she is not one of his plants, but in the case the words are laced with heartbreak and regret. But of course we are not made to care and hope for these two - the flashback has already established that they will be together by the end of the film (because no script would ever tear a pair apart like that and have them simply never see each other again), so where is the tension? At the end, Uhl pulls together all the pieces in our minds, and this is where usually we have our fingers ready at the pause button, to map all the subtle clues and eagerly flick back through the film to spot them. But this film doesn't even grant us that little joy. It shows us flickers of events we have not previously seen, and congratulates itself on being so clever for revealing something that was inevitable. We see the same problem with the main villain, Leopold. He comes with evil twirling moustache and all and as always, is completely convinced that his actions are necessary and for the greater good. This would actually mean something if we saw anything of this world besides a few peasant audiences, beggar boys and faceless policemen. They haven't even cast the Emperor, so who cares about a baddie trying to overthrow him?