‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ is wildly entertaining, over-the-top
Ruben Fleischer’s third “Now You See Me” installment is visually exciting, though it could rely more on magic illusions, our columnist says. Emma Soto | Contributing Illustrator
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Not everyone enjoys magic. Anyone forced to sit through a magician at a kid’s birthday party knows it can be predictable, over the top and eye-roll-inducing. But, if you ignore the rational part of your brain and let yourself get swept up in the spectacle and gimmicks, you might find yourself truly enjoying the show, or in this case, the movie.
Ruben Fleisher’s “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” released Nov. 14, marks the third installment of the “Now You See Me” film franchise. The movie’s plot doesn’t live up to its predecessors, lacking originality and a grounding in reality. But its fast pace, quippy twist-filled writing, strong ensemble cast, visual intrigue and commitment to its ridiculousness make it a film worth seeing.
It probably won’t be up for any Oscars this awards season, but what it lacks in prestige, it makes up for in fun.
The film finds the renowned group of magicians, the Four Horsemen, after an off-screen falling out. The group is joined by newcomers Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa) and June (Ariana Greenblatt), up-and-coming magicians who’ve caught the attention of mysterious magic organization, The Eye, through their act of impersonating the Horsemen.
Following The Eye’s instructions, Charlie, Bosco and June team up with original Horseman J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) to steal the valuable “Heart Diamond,” the world’s biggest diamond and property of the corrupt diamond industry figure Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike). Eventually, they join forces with the other Horsemen (Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan) to expose Veronika and her past crimes.
Clues are found, handkerchiefs are pulled, Houdini is referenced, “Is this your card?” is asked and, true to its predecessors, fight scenes are aplenty in this sequel, complete with exaggerated sound effects.
But, unlike the previous franchise installments, the film has a notable lack of magic tricks involved in the fight choreography, making for less interesting action overall.
In one scene, rather than a clever misdirection or illusion, Jack Wilder (Franco) simply throws a piano at an ensuing police officer. In another, Sessa’s character is trapped in a van with security guards, and in what feels like laziness from writers, uses basic hand-to-hand combat to escape.
When the movie does remember to use magic, it’s visually exciting, although not particularly clever. Many smoke bombs are thrown just for the sake of spectacle and the movie reuses some illusions from previous installments.
In some places, the film feels nonsensical. One scene involves a “magic-off” of sorts between all of the Horsemen in which Henley Reeves (Fisher) performs a quick-change illusion, walking through a storm of white paper shreds and coming out the other side in a white dress. The implication is that she was wearing a layered costume, ready for this trick, just in case the occasion arose — too convenient to believe.
In spite of this, the movie, like its predecessors, is wildly entertaining. As Veronika tells Merritt McKinney (Harrelson), “the camp, the cheese” of magic is what translates so well to these films.
I particularly loved the fast-paced plot developments, intriguing mystery, plot twists, a car chase intercut with an escape from a glass box filling with sand and a particularly on-the-nose needle drop of “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga. And yes, a character does say the phrase, “Now you see me” in full earnestness.
Appearances from previous characters like Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) and, at the very end, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), had me gasping in my seat like it was “Avengers: Endgame.”
Despite a lack of particularly deep moments, some of the best scenes come from the ensemble. The dynamics among the estranged Horsemen and between the established and up-and-coming magicians make for entertaining banter and quips that got more than one chuckle out of theatergoers. A few sweet, found-family moments make their way in there as well.
The star-studded cast delivers expectedly solid performances all around. Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher, Franco and Caplan don’t necessarily deliver standout performances, but work well within the formulaic comedic structure. Smith, Sessa and Greenblatt bring compelling and believable life to their outcast characters. Pike is equally believable in her role, expertly balancing deviousness and real emotion.
In the movie’s final act, the group, using plenty of misdirection, manages to convince Veronika that she’s in her private vault. This causes her to show her true colors and confess to her crimes, when in reality, it was all a trick set up in front of an audience.
During the trick, it’s revealed that Charlie is Veronika’s half-brother, and she’s responsible for his mother’s death. It turns out Charlie fabricated all the instructions from “The Eye” to gain the Horsemen’s help in taking her down.
This twist wasn’t particularly impactful or groundbreaking, and did not quite live up to the twists and turns of the first film. The movie strays from developing in-universe mythology, unlike the previous films.
Many sequels beg the question: Did this need to exist? “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” answers: Why not?
Fleischer told Entertainment Weekly the writing process is underway for a fourth installment, so it looks like more magic may be in the cards. If it is, I’ll certainly be booking my tickets.
