The Great Magician

Ratings: 6.6/10

Film Class: B

Genre: Action Comedy

Somehow, this movie just reminds me of Let the Bullets Fly - Action packed with loads of comedy. However, Let the Bullets Fly was one of the most memorable chinese movies of such a genre. The Great Magician doesn't "appear" close.

A great travelling magician catches the attention of a powerful warload, Lei Daniu, who engages his help to win the heart of his 7th concubine. Of all his other wives, the 7th is one who treats him most coldly and whom he adores most. Unknowing to him, the great magician is her fiance who is plotting something up his sleeves...

The movie started strong, and engaging, but gradually became too gimicky. It was just ma-cheesy at the end, especially after the point where everything was "exposed", perhaps the director's wrapped way of relating it to real life (magic is no longer "magically" after it has been exposed). I recalled stronger magician/illusions plot films such as The Illusionists and The Prestige, but then again comparing The Great Magician to the others is like comparing a mandarin orange with persimmons.

There were "real" magic involved (by real I actually mean realistic) and "fake" ones (by fake I mean the impossible ones, only achievable by CG) as well. So if you're a avid magician who's looking for fresh ideas to enhance your repertoire, I'm afraid you won't be finding any in this film. There are things you probably already know and others which you know are just "impossible", something that in theory, shouldn't exist in a magician's dictionary.

However, I did enjoy the first 3/4s of the movie until it fell downhill but overall, The Great Magician does enough to amaze its audience.