Christian Bale and Michael Caine are re-united with director Christopher Nolan i

n this beautifully crafted period mystery which sees two magicians locked into a
n escalating vendetta after a trick goes wrong resulting in the death of Hugh Ja
ckman's wife. Nolan proves himself once more to be as masterful at misdirection
as the illusionists themselves, producing a wonderful looking and cleverly scrip
ted tale of revenge that's full of twists and turns. His favoured method of disj
ointed timelines works very well, feeding the audience important plot elements a
t strategic intervals, keeping you guessing until, well NEARLY the end...when th
e final twist reveals itself, it does take a certain amount of suspension of dis
belief, but hey, this isn't a documentary. The performances are all fine, althou
gh Scarlett Johansson doesn't really have too much to do except look pretty, but
she manages to muddle through. Another cracker from one of the most consistentl
y good directors working today.