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[learnedax]

So, finally saw The Illusionist last night. I wasn't really blown away per se, but it was a very enjoyable film, with fun magic stuff.
I believe essentially all of the effects shown are documentable, which is pretty keen. My only disappointment with the narrative was that despite slippery ambiguity about whether the magic was supernatural, the actual plot proceeded in a fairly expected fashion, morally questionable twist ending frame job notwithstanding. It was interesting to discover that the prince was basically right about everything, but ultimately you had to know that the girl isn't going to really die, so you start thinking about how her death could have been faked, etc. There were still clever aspects to the reveal, but I guess I was expecting a little more complexity to the plot overall.

Still recommended.

Comments

[new-man.livejournal.com]

I believe essentially all of the effects shown are documentable, which is pretty keen.

Well... sorta. The tree is, surprisingly enough. But the "ghost" effect was the CGI version of The Pepper's Ghost Illusion. I understand why they didn't use the actual effect (you can't capture it on film well; it requires low lighting) but I wish their computer generated version of it looked more like the real thing and less like scary magic.

Over all, I found the plot predictable, but the acting was so good and the visuals were so stunning I didn't care.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

A couple bits of the ghost thing made me think "ok, he's clearly got real magic, because you can't do that". Particularly the indistinguishable-from-anyone-else kid walking through the audience. On the other hand, there are plenty of effects that I can't think how they are done...

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

We were particularly irritated by the sword in the stone thing, and the kid in the audience - it wouldn't have detracted from the overall flow and plot to have all the magic tricks be feasible. Otherwise they seemed to do a good job of keeping to the rules of the cozy English detective stories of the 1930s - the ending was clearly telegraphed as soon as the doctor refused to let the detective inspect her body thoroughly, and after that it was fun to just rack up the clues about how things would play out.

My favorite CGI effect was a stone arch added on to a building (as opposed to the backdrop of the stage - it looked like old-style matte painting, a nice effect). They did a very good job of faking Vienna.

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

I wasn't as bothered by the sword bit. Sure, I don't know how it works, but I can sort of think of general mechanisms that might work, given the technology available. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that one was a well-known trick. The kid, though...

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I chalked the ghost effect up to dramatic license. They want to convey to a *modern* audience the effect the illusion would have had on a *period* audience. In those days, remember, Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur was "convincingly realistic".