Earlier this year the very funny (but unfortunate box office bomb) “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” took a comedic look at the world of Magic. Surprise box office hit “Now You See Me” uses magic as a backdrop for a crime caper.
In the long opening sequence (seriously – it takes about 20 minutes before the title appears on screen) we are introduced to four random magicians: Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) gets top-billing as Daniel Atlas, a very popular street magician. Isla Fisher’s Henley performs daring escape stunts. Woody Harrelson’s Merritt is a once-famous mentalist who’s trying to make a comeback. And Dave Franco (whose brother, James, dealt with magic as “Oz: The Great & Powerful”) plays Jack, the youngest of the group, who’s still looking to make a name for himself. They all receive mysterious invitations to come together and work on one, giant three-part “trick” that will change their lives and the lives of many others.
The story then flashes-forward a year. “The Four Horsemen” (as they are billed) are now performing in Vegas under the guidance of business tycoon Arthur Tressler (played by Michael Caine). They get the attention of the world when they pull-off the first amazing stunt – robbing a bank in Paris – from Las Vegas. And they give all the money to the audience. Not surprisingly, the FBI considers this a crime, so Agent Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is called in to investigate. This begins a cat-and-mouse game between the magicians and the authorities, including female agent Alma Dray (played by French actress Melanie Laurent), sent by Interpol to work with Rhodes. And there’s a TV show host named Thaddeus Bradley (who better than Morgan Freeman) who makes millions from revealing the secrets of magicians. He wants to expose the “Horsemen”, but not help the cops.
It turns-out that the producers of “Now You See Me” tricked us for months. The trailers and ads for the movie led us to believe that the four magicians are the main characters, when in reality, Ruffalo, Laurent and even Freeman get more screen time. There’s a reason for this as the plot develops, but it also makes it difficult to get to know the characters of the magicians aside from their illusions.
There’s a basic, 3-part story structure: The first section – “How’d they do it?”. Once the FBI agents start going after the “Horsemen” it becomes – “Where are they?”. And the final third of “Now You See Me” tries to answer the question “Who’s really behind all this?”. It takes awhile to get there, but there are rarely any dull moments. The film held my attention throughout. The tricks and twists do work and you will be fooled by the ending.
A few of the elaborate tricks are revealed, and they’re more complex than we probably needed. There are also some predictable elements in this tangled web of a script, including an unnecessary romantic relationship between agents Rhodes and Dray. But watching Caine and Freeman in their few scenes together (a “Dark Knight” reunion) was a welcome surprise.
“Now You See Me” is rated PG-13 for some language, action and brief adult content. It’s appropriate for teens and up.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Now You See Me” gets a B-.