Now You See Me [2013]

After a couple of years, we are treated with another good magic movie, or to be more precise a movie about magicians. This one also doubles as a heist movie. Both The Illusionist and The Prestige, both released in 2006 are far better movies with better stories and character development. However, this one is much more entertaining and visually flashier, so take your pick. When someone says an all-star cast, you usually expect to see a couple of familiar names, but not all of them as it is the case with Now You See Me, where all of the actors are established and great actors with an accent on Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

Now a good cast without a good script will result in an utterly terrible movie, but with a good script… I wish that this was the case with this movie, but it’s not. Despite its flashy cast and concept, after all that drama you aren’t left with anything of lasting value. So, let’s clear out that rather perplexing situation: this movie is great before you see it and while you’re watching, but as soon as it’s over, you will forget about it. A definition of a summer blockbuster and a movie for Netflix or Cable TV, if there is still such a thing… it swallowed a pretty big chunk and managed to keep it down. It’s perfect for gen pop.

Four struggling magicians, each with its unique act, are united by an unknown benefactor. They eventually end up in Las Vegas, performing on a big stage for a very wealthy man that goes by the name of Arthur Tressler. The Four Horseman, as they are now known, give the audience a unique experience: they are invited to witness a bank robbery that’s happening right there, in front of them, on the stage. The only problem with this is that the bank was real, and the stolen money was real, so now FBI agent Dylan Rhodes is called to investigate the theft. But in the world of magic, things play out much differently than in the real world…

Pretty much the same can be said about this movie, as it uses the same tricks. What remains is regret for further character development and coherent direction. But the magic tricks were awesome, some of them were actual tricks performed without any CGI or special effects to make them look that way.

And this is the way the viewer gets sucked in and why this movie is so entertaining, mixing magic and heists, it creates that atmosphere of suspense where you just don’t know what’s going to happen, but whatever happens, it’s going to be good. One thing is for sure, if you cannot afford to go to Las Vegas to see actual magicians at work, you will get the next best thing in the comfort of your own home while watching Now You See Me (and now you don’t, little OCD kicking in…)

Director: Louis Leterrier

Writer:  Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine

Fun Facts: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jim Carrey, Hugh Grant, Sacha Baron Cohen and Colin Firth were considered for the lead roles before it was decided to go for younger leads.

Rating:

IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/