MovieChat Forums > The Illusionist (2006) Discussion > The 'twist' could be anticipated mid-way

The 'twist' could be anticipated mid-way

posted 16 years ago by katochnr
34 replies | jump to latest

We know that Eisenheim knew that the police followed the Duchess. So right from the scene where they show them kissing in the middle of the city (for a man shown to be so intelligent why would he do that!!), then the station scene, the crown prince already having killed a woman; it all adds up and we can clearly make out that they upto some mischief .. and from that point onwards the whole thing plods on drearily towards the conclusion .. the whole thing bores like hell ..

[–] michaelexarkun 16 years ago

i agree that the twist could be anticipated, in fact I did even before the kissing scene at the carriage.
it was after they had made love, and she is saying how the Crown Prince would hunt them both, if she ran away, for as long as they were alive.

So, the way to get around being hunted is what?

[–] nascentt 15 years ago

Yeah, I too saw the ending from the words "for as long as they were alive". When later in the movie the ghosts began, I started to hope there was more to the movie, much like the prestige is predictable halfway through too. What sets that apart, is that there is so much to that movie that even if you predict 75% of it, the remaining 25% will still blow your mind.

I feel a lot more could have been added to the movie, there were many possibilities for further twists or enhancements of plot. Pity.

[–] Params7 15 years ago

I started having my suspicions the way the jewels kept falling off his sword...that was so unrealistic I thought she was still alive.

[–] Dejay 12 years ago

I find a story with an obvious twist but good storytelling is much more enjoyable that a story that tries "too hard" to add a twist that just preposterous.

The whole revolution story and the relationship between the illusionist and the chief inspector (and character development) was very interesting. The trick was not faking their deaths, but to topple the crown prince to make sure they won't get hunted later on.

PS.: Think of Romeo and Juliet. Everyone knows the ending, yet you can watch a new (good) version of the story without getting bored.

[–] PrickWithAFork 16 years ago

Well call me retarded, but I didn't see it coming, and I pride myself at guessing "twists" long before the end. What I think is stupid is continuing to watch a movie that "bores like hell".

My body makes no moan
But sings on:
All things remain in God.

[–] Woody_Allen_Binoculars 16 years ago

Retarded

[–] Edren 14 years ago

Well in ruotimo, that was so cutting my eyes are bleeding.

Life is just one damned thing after another - Elbert Hubbard

[–] nascentt 15 years ago

Yeah sorry, but it's pretty difficult to not see it coming a mile off. Anyway, calling people stupid for not switching off is fairly dumb, it only makes sense to watch with hopes you are wrong and there's a double twist or the whole thing was a red herring. If you watch a few film-noirs/mysteries from the golden years you'll see that plots used to be written in such a way that even if you suspect a certain type of outcome, there's always something to surprise you.

[–] O_Possum 16 years ago

When Paul Giamatti told Ed Norton, "There isn't a trick they [the royal family] haven't seen," I knew Norton was going to stage Jessica Biel's death so she could escape with him.

http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19910506,00.html
Scientology: Cult of Greed

[–] herrkilman 16 years ago

Yeah, it was way too obvious the way the plot was constructed. It's easy to figure out the function of each character, and when considering possible endings, the movie paints itself into a corner. Unfortunately. This movie could have been a great exploration of loss and grief with a "magic" angle, if she had in fact died, and the illusions had, in fact, been more mysterious and ambiguos. Alas, it was not to be. Instead, we are meant to believe that these things where mere illusions... nah.

[–] Anticitizen 15 years ago

Mid-way? I guessed it in the first ten minutes of the film - when the (young versions of) the illusionist and duchess were found by the police, and the duchess is asking him to 'make them disappear'. I turned to my girlfriend and said, 'how much do you wanna bet that he's going to use his skills to make them disappear away together at the end of the film?'

[–] fg400a 15 years ago

Yep, the ending ruined the film, it was very easy to figure it out :S

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[–] hareeshh 15 years ago

I couldn't predict the twist, and so I was thoroughly satisfied at the end. This is what I expect from a movie anyway. I remember seeing 'The Sixth Sense' after having known the twist... boy, that movie could've been much more enjoyable if not for Scrubs!

[–] Aidy 15 years ago

The twist was obvious in 1998. When Norton was kerb-stomping a black guy I thought to myself "I bet he ends up playing someone who fakes a girls death to rescue her from her noble life".

[–] amblount 15 years ago

I haven't posted anything on these boards in YEARS, but this was just too funny to pass up. Fricken HILARIOUS! baha!

Mrs. Gordon Currie

[–] Piston_Pride 15 years ago

I am back on IMDb

[–] Edren 14 years ago

The twist was obvious in 1998. When Norton was kerb-stomping a black guy I thought to myself "I bet he ends up playing someone who fakes a girls death to rescue her from her noble life".

Life is just one damned thing after another - Elbert Hubbard

[–] cefaz 15 years ago

I think the inspector had no elements in order to put the pieces of the puzzle together and finally solve the mystery about what really happened. It made no sense at all.

[–] scastilloxbx 15 years ago

Twist endings are supposed to give you hints to for the final scene, it's good that you (the people that did see the ending coming) saw that. For the majority of the people, we didn't see it coming.

SPOILER ALERT*******************

Just like :
Sixth Sense
Fight Club
Unbreakable
The Prestige
The Usual Suspects
Primal Fear
Seven
The Others
etc.

Every movie had people that guessed the ending, but the majority of the people didn't. At least, that's what I think. Like, I didn't see this ending coming but, Primal Fear, The Usual Suspects, Seven, were kinda obvious to me.

Now a twist ending that i doubt anyone will see before hand is Donnie Darko. Goddamn, if you haven't seen that movie watch it, if you guess it, then you might be Jesus.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lorddeseiz 15 years ago

Can already anticipate whats goin to happen right from the start. Where the youngsters get separated in the woods by the policemen. She says, make me disapear, make us disapear. But Eisenheim doesnt know how, yet.
Then few scenes later when they meet at the stage as adults and the crownprince invites Eisenheim to come give a show at the palace, Eisenheim says, Ok, ill come, maybe I let you disapear, while lookin at the duchess.
Dead give away, after all this years he finnaly found the "tric" he lacked in the woods to make them "disapear". Awesome story.
But to say the movie is boring, no, not at all. This movie is entertaining all the way. Sure its slow, but not boring.
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