Now You See Me – Movie Review

 

 

 

 

 

There are two types of magic tricks: The one that dazzles you with its ‘HOW did that HAPPEN?!’ mystery, and the other that your generally inebriated friend does at parties.  You know, the one where you can’t quite figure it out, and after you do…it wasn’t nearly as impressive as it should have been?  The new film ‘Now You See Me’ manages to offer you both of these during its 2 hour running time.

Now You See Me pits four street magicians coming together for one unforeseen reason.  Jesse Eisenberg plays Daniel Atlas, the fast-talking and quick thinking head of the group whose skills are the most diverse.  Woody Harrelson’s McKinney is the mentalist, able to coax people into amusing fits of ridiculousness while reading others at a whim.  Isla Fisher is Henley, Atlas’ former assistant who has come into her own as a slightly depraved version of David Copperfield.  Dave Franco is the final piece, a clever thief whose magic skills pale in comparison with the others, yet are desperately needed to pull off what’s to come.

They begin by using the stage name of The Four Horsemen, launching from the bank account of millionaire Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine), and utilizing their audience to rob a bank on the other side of the world right in front of them.  As you can assume, this garners the attention of the FBI in the form of Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and also Interpol as Alma Dray (Inglorious Basterds’ Melanie Laurent), an agent that just happens to show up right as this recent trick occurs.

Rhodes becomes suspicious of pretty much everyone, yet cannot put the pieces together on how they did it.  In comes Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman…playing Morgan Freeman), a former magician famous for discounting magicians and their tricks, simply for profit.  Yea, real magicians hate this guy.  The Horsemen have two more tricks in their arsenal, so Rhodes and company take off in pursuit, hoping to stop them before they complete whatever their final trick happens to be.

This is a film based on the conceit of illusion, and also illumination.  A lot of the magic is explained and when it is, most of it is very clever.  Much like that feeling you get when you see a live show, it is great fun trying to figure out how they did it (even when you know they physically can’t). And yes, occasionally you will feel like an idiot for not figuring it out sooner.

The characters are a lot of fun as well. Eisenberg’s Atlas and Harrelson’s McKinney are the easy standouts here.  Maybe enjoying their Zombieland reunion was the reason, but these two seem to be having the most fun they have had in a film in years and anytime either of them are on stage, it is easily the strongest part of the flick. Fisher definitely holds her own with the quick talking duo, though director Louis Leterrier should have let her bring a little more of herself to the role as Henley felt a little reserved for Fischer. Franco, who was excellent in 21 Jump Street, is simply functional here.  He never slows the film down, but he has nothing on the other three and when all four are present, you kind of just keep wishing there were only three horsemen…and also that he would fix that lisp.

As the befuddled FBI Agent way over his head, Ruffalo has his meatiest role in a while, desperately trying to put the pieces together but always one step behind.  Even with the help of the mysterious Alma, things just are not falling into place.  Caine and Freeman do a wonderful job with their smaller, but very imperative roles.  They seem to be enjoying the fun of it all and these are two actors who never disappoint.

While Now You See Me is completely entertaining, there is no character development.  Not even a little. If you want to see characters grow, you would get more from even Fast and Furious 6.  This is a film built just like the magic it is based on – quick, fun and disposable.  Director Leterrier knows how to entertain and for a while, you cannot help but be enthralled on ‘Where the hell is this film going?’  Unfortunately the ultimate reveal does fall a bit weak, which hurts the more grand aspects the film was going for.  Still, it IS fun and the cast keeps you involved for every rabbit trick along the way.

Now You See Me is a hard film to review.  On one hand, the film is as entertaining as a Vegas stage show.  Most of the movie you will smile ear-to-ear while trying to figure out why or what is happening. On the other hand, there is zero character development and when the film does wrap up; the conclusion is not nearly as clever as much of the rest of the film. As stated, it gives you a little taste of both kinds of tricks.  If you are looking for fun that involves more of the mind and a little less of the explosive kind, this is the film for you.

If $10 is the full price of admission, this one is worth $7.

 

Aaron Peterson
The Hollywood Outsider Podcast