Without a Sense of Awe

Rating: 5/10 (26 August 2013)

We begin being introduced to four modern magicians, Jesse Eisenberg is J. Daniel Atlas, a sleight of hand artist who specializes in close-up magic. Woody Harrelson is Merritt McKinney, a mentalist using his talents to con people out of their money. Isla Fisher is Henley Reeves, an escape artist on the rise and Dave Franco is Jack Wilder, a pickpocket magician with street ninja abilities. The four find mysterious cards that summon them to an apartment in New York. One year later they are working together as a team known as The Four Horsemen, performing at a sold-out show in Las Vegas, where they apparently rob a bank and reward their audience with the money. The film then shifts as we follow Mark Ruffalo, as FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, and Mélanie Laurent, as Interpol agent Alma Dray, as they try to figure out how the trick was done while tracking the Four Horsemen with the help of Morgan Freeman, as Thaddeus Bradley, a professional illusion exposer.
Now You See Me starts very strong and is highly entertaining. Jesse Eisenberg is perfect as a young magician and Woody Harrelson's mentalist is great fun to watch. These two actors have always been great working together and their characters in this film just don't get enough screen time. In fact, they deserve a film of their own as we're left wanting to see more of them. Mélanie Laurent stole our hearts as Shosanna Dreyfus in Inglourious Basterds and it's great to see her back on the big screen in such a big movie.
As the story races forward, it takes on too much for it's own good. The plot only continues to get more complicated and the more it tries to explain itself, the more questions rise that the film doesn't seem to have the time to explain or answer. Instead of slowing down and proving the story isn't full of plot holes for it's more observant, intellectual viewers, the filmmakers seem to assume that we are just going to trust them. The problem with this is that neither the writers or the director have produced anything in the past that suggests we can trust them. Screenwriter Boaz Yakin past credits include co-writer of Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and wrote last year's Jason Statham action flick, Safe. Screenwriter Ed Solomon co-wrote Super Mario Bros, Men In Black, Charlie's Angels and the 2009 Eddie Murphy family comedy, Imagine That. The film is directed by Louis Leterrier, who has also directed Transporter 2 and Clash of the Titans. Enough said.
What really ruins the fun is the final twist. This time it isn't just sloppy writing as it was made clear though-out the film, even from the very beginning, that someone else is involved with the Four Horsemen. When the reveal happens it's unexciting and the performance from the 5th horsemen comes off lazy. It's very anticlimactic for such a fast-paced film that was racing towards a climax that was promising us greatness.
Now You See Me is just another Hollywood thriller that starts out strong with great characters, performances and promises much but leaves us feeling cheated. Another magic trick that for all it's elaborate and exciting build-up, leaves us with no sense of awe. This is one illusion you'll wish you never knew how it was done.