Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Movie Review
2013’s Now You See Me mixed jaw-dropping illusions and magic tricks with thrilling action and heists, making for an entertaining and fun time at the movies. But, when the suspension of disbelief was taken a little too far in the 2016 sequel, it almost seemed impossible to create more fun stories in the magic-action space without it becoming a parody of itself. However, the anticipated return of The Horseman (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher) to the big screen once again in the brilliantly titled three-quel, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t brings the franchise back to what worked best the first time around – make it fun and make it magical.
Almost a decade has passed since the Robin Hood-esque magicians, The Horseman, were last seen together in the public eye, leaving room for a new group of up-and-coming magicians – a pickpocket extraordinaire (Ariana Greenblatt), a quick-witted showman (Dominic Sessa), and a magic history obsessive (Justice Smith) – to digitally impersonate the original group of magicians and continue their legacy of taking down the rich and manipulative, and giving back to the people.
But, when the all-mysterious group known only as The Eye task Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) to team up with this new crew to steal back a priceless diamond from a South African mining magnate (Rosamund Pike), the original Horseman must put their old grievances aside to pull off this seemingly impossible heist.
As is tradition with the Now You See Me films at this point, the opening scene sets the tone of the type of magic the story will try and get away with, but also how much fun it’s going to watch it unfold, and Now You Don’t succeeds in setting a very cheeky, joyous tone that new director to the series Ruben Fleischer maintains all the way through this fast-paced adventure.
Toning down some of the fantastical (and frankly unrealistic even for movie standards) magic from Now You See Me 2, the illusions at play in this film, while sometimes touching on the cusp of too crazy, are exciting and work with in the rules of the world, with a fun, nostalgic throw back to some iconic, historical magic tricks that excite many of the magicians in the film. These tricks are also worked into the action seamlessly, with classic card tricks and illusion-based trickery highlighted in some exciting set-pieces that include a lot of hand-to-hand combat and a thrilling car chase during the climax.
But the biggest strength in Now You Don’t is the immense fun that the cast is clearly having, both returning and new members. There is a tongue-in-cheek tone that the cast play around with that heightens the overall enjoyment factor of the film. Everyone is hamming up their roles just enough, while convincingly pulling off jaw-dropping magic tricks, that replicates the feeling of watching a great, confident, and sometimes cocky street magician. One of the highlights of the new cast is Dominic Sessa, who channels a little bit of the Eisenberg-Daniel Atlas energy, for a performance that can definitely be added to his current hot streak.
The major flaw with this film is that there is occasionally an over-complication of events and storylines that makes the journey to the climax a little all over the place at points. The reason the first Now You See Me worked so well is that the story was simple, and the magic was complicated. However, this time around, and potentially something that has stemmed from having four screenwriters involved, the backstory that fuels Rosamund Pike’s story, which in turn plays heavily into the film’s climax, is pretty uninteresting compared to the adventurous elements of the new and old magic team. That and a questionable South African accent from Pike.
Learning from the mistakes made in the second film, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t mixes magic and illusions with the action in a truly entertaining way, all brought to life by a returning and newcomer cast who are having a blast doing it.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is in Australian cinemas November 13
