"Wait, you're Batman? I'm Wolverine. We should totally team up!"

Are you watching closely?

Those words, uttered by Christian Bale over The Prestige’s opening shot of dozens of top hats scattered across the ground, serve as a heads up. You’d best be paying attention if you want to get the most out of this intricate thriller from director Christopher Nolan, but it’s well worth the effort.

The Prestige tells the story of Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Bale), two stage illusionists in turn-of-the-last-century London. Initially working as assistants to the same magician, the two men become bitter rivals after a trick goes fatally wrong. Acts of sabotage and one-upmanship ensue as each tries to build his career. Borden, we learn, is a more innovative magician while Angier has a flair for showmanship. But, when Borden debuts a new illusion called the Transported Man, Angier can’t figure out how it’s done, and his quest to learn the secret turns to obsession.

He must have really pissed off Storm.

The Prestige is a deliciously twisty tale, bursting with intrigue. The screenplay, by director Nolan and his brother Jonathan and based on the novel by Christopher Priest, tangles the plot even further by jumping around in the story’s timeline. It weaves its yarn from three plot threads: in one we see the origin and escalation of the rivalry; in another Angier travels to America to learn the secret of Borden’s illusion from the equally obsessive master of electricity Nicola Tesla (David Bowie, who totally rocks!); and in a third, Borden is on trial for Angier’s murder. The time shifts are perhaps a bit overdone. Piecing the story together out of order serves to deepen the intrigue, but their decisions of what to show when occasionally feel arbitrary. Honestly, guys, we’re watching closely. Stop testing us!

Nolan’s direction is masterful as he amps up the intrigue and mystery without ever losing sight of the human drama at the story’s center. When Michael Caine, brilliant as a designer of stage illusions who mentors each of the magicians in turn, tells Jackman early on, “you’ll have to get your hands dirty” to make it as a magician, he’s only talking about a few unfortunate doves. Nolan artfully builds on this theme as each of his leads is tragically undone by his own actions and the mundane, seamy side of stage magic gives way to lightning-streaked feats that approach real magic.

Of the two leads, Bale fares better. His Borden is steely and focused, intensely devoted to his craft and a tad menacing. He is a man of great control and inscrutability, and when that control cracks Bale’s desperation is raw and genuine. Jackman is good and holds his own during his confrontations with Bale, but I think Angier’s obsession is more on the page than the screen.

Hugh Jackman gets a brilliant idea.

Scarlett Johansson, the Hardest Working Sexpot in Hollywood, is wasted here in a role that requires little else, though her Amazing Disappearing Accent was one of the best tricks in the film. Of the three actresses playing love interest roles, the best was Rebecca Hall as Borden’s wife, a woman who learns that marrying a man whose whole life revolves around secrecy is maybe not the best idea. She makes you root for her happiness and, since this is not a happy movie, you’re bound to be heartbroken for her. Andy Serkis makes the most of his role as Tesla’s assistant, playing it with a slyness and humor that really enlivens that storyline.

How far will Angier and Borden go to achieve an illusion? To destroy the other person? You don’t have to be watching too closely to realize that the answer is, “Too far.” In The Prestige, the brothers Nolan have crafted a movie that’s an intriguing mystery, a compelling character study, and a meditation on the price of obsession. It had me hooked from its first frame to its last.

Gorilla Pants rating: 4 out of 4 bananas