by Jeff Alan, Contributing Writer
After nearly 10 years away from the franchise, the Four Horseman and their illusionist antics have returned to the big screen with Now You See Me: Now You Don’t to entertain and make us guess how the trick was done. The Horsemen consist of Jesse Eisenberg as the leader Danny, Woody Harrelson as mentalist Merritt, Dave Franco as sleight of hand and pick pocketer Jack, and Isla Fisher returning to the franchise as Henley.
The film starts right by showing us three new magicians and friends, Charlie, Bosco, and June (Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt) carrying out an elaborate magic trick in the vein of the long-dormant Four Horsemen, by using deepfake projections of said group. After scamming a “crypto-bro” out of millions of dollars, and returning it to the people he scammed the money from in the first place, the three young magicians return home to find Danny waiting for them, saying The Eye, the mysterious society of magicians, instructed him to connect with the three friends to pull off a trick of grand proportions.
Danny informs them Veronica Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), a wealthy matriarch of a South African diamond mining company, is in possession of the largest diamond in the world, valued at half a billion dollars. Vanderberg uses the company to launder money for criminals, and Danny hatches a plan to steal the diamond from her and return it to the people it came from. But when their plan goes slightly off book and they need a way out, help comes out of nowhere in the form of Jack, Merritt, and Henley, all of whom have also received instruction from The Eye, and the group of seven are led into a new world of tricks and illusions.
The last two Now You See Me films were – for lack of a better word – ridiculous. The circumstances that led to their congregation and thievery were outlandish, their small and large tricks (while claiming to be illusions) made no sense when thought about in a logical sense, and all around, the entire franchise up to this point was arguably not good, but still mildly entertaining nonetheless. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is still ridiculous at points, but it surprisingly has much more grounded story elements, making it a much more enjoyable watch. The tricks and illusions aren’t as laughable and nonsensical as they were the previous two films (remember the passing the card sequence in Now You See Me 2?), and everyone’s illusions are based in a somewhat reality, as opposed to making you think its less sleight of hand and more movie magic special effects, though there is still some of that in here.
It really shows that these magicians are more illusionists. as opposed to trying to pass of as actual magic, and that’s what I enjoy more than anything about this film. These people aren’t acting like hacky magicians anymore; they’re acting as what they are now: talented, highly skilled — albeit theatrical — con artists doing their best to be Robin Hood. I think that’s what the first film wanted them to appear to be, but it failed to put them in that lane, and focused more on the “magic” side.
But while it’s all the characters in the same world we are familiar with, something feels different about the film in the best way possible. It’s hard to say if it’s the new director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom, Uncharted), the addition of the three newcomers, or a combination of both, but this is so much more fun than before! The tricks are fun, the outlandish foolery is turned way down (I’m talking about the absolutely absurd hypnosis that our dear Mr. Harrelson’s character is so gifted with, not to mention Harrelson thankfully isn’t playing twins in this one), and the film leads us to a conclusion that not only isn’t forced or foolhardy, but makes sense when all the playing cards have fallen to the floor.
I’m not sure what the future holds for this franchise, but I hope it learns from the good lessons of this film and brings more of this fun. The addition of Smith, Sessa, and Greenblatt and their chemistry is a huge highlight, and mixed with the pairings to their counterparts of the original Horsemen only adds more to the interconnected chemistry of this cast. If there is a future in the movie franchise, I would love to see more of elements in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t sprinkled into the further installments, and have this world back into the realm of reality. But if this film is their way of getting this series into that realm of possibility, this was a great step in that direction.
Rating: High Side of Liked It
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is currently playing in theaters
You can read more from Jeff Alan, and follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd