First time I saw it I thought it was weird, because Hugh Jackman is essentially killing himself over and over.

The second time I grudgingly watched it because my roommates were, it was a weekend night, and a few people had not seen it yet. All was well in my mind, and I appreciated it more.

(I still like The Illusionist more because of my first thoughts given of this film. But a friend recently told me some thought that it depends on which film you see first to be which you like more, and I saw The Illusionist first.)

But with Inception just released and all, I crawl back to this Christopher Nolan film for a third time. What I found really interesting was catching things I had not noticed at first (or second), and thinking about parts of the story, such as which twin of Christian Bale was dressed up as who whenever you saw them.

Which brings me to the point of this entry: One big question I think now racking my mind when addressing that issue is this: Which brother died and which killed Jackman? The one that loved his wife or the one that loved Scarlett Johansson?

And a second point: I keep finding myself rooting for Jackman. I think he has better ideals than Bale's character(s), and in the end Bale is a pretty nasty guy. Yet in the end he dies. Is there supposed to be some comfort in that, and a happy ending with Bale the victor? I think not, because in the end it was Bale that did the murdering, Bale that was being a ##### (why in the world is that filtered?), and Jackman is just a confused and envious victim. Happy ending it is not, but it is finally a movie that still leaves the audience (me) satisfied.