All style, no substance. All smoke and mirrors. All surface, no feeling.

Rating: 1/10 (27 September 2015)

So what is there to say about this movie? What we get is a vague, overarching background plot, a contrived love-story that just kind of pops up for no apparent reason, a few predictable plot twists, a huge plot twist pulled out of thin air and some really overdone CGI magic. For a film boasting such a strong cast it falls surprisingly flat. I suppose someone has a lot of dirt on the main cast, or maybe they didn't read the script before signing on to this Titanic of a movie.
First of all, there is no of urgency or excitement what so ever. The four horsemen are certainly closer to being super villains than actual human illusionists. The FBI and Interpol are no more than comic sidekicks, never ever getting close to catching the bank robbers/magicians/demigods. I get the feeling the writers want me to root for Jesse, Woody and the rest of the illusionists but they just come off as being so ridiculously overpowering and vastly superior to the police it's like rooting for a UFC fighter beating up a puppy.
The would be heroes are at best people who the movie never tries to make the audience care about, at worst they are smug and utterly unlikable. There is no back story worth mentioning, all we get are some short intro sequences. The main characters meet and then the main plot just kind of fast-forwards off into action without any further explanation. The character development is so insignificant it cannot even be measured. There is no change and nothing is leaned. At the end of the film the characters are exactly the same as when we started. Yes, there are some references to a back story but that never effects the plot besides setting up a few one-liners and in a clumsily thrown together ending twist.
I read quite a few reviews saying this movie thinks it is much smarter than it really is and I think that sums it up quite nicely. This movie is like a pompous street magician with a self satisfied grin, quite certain he's got the audience in awe when in reality everyone in the crowd has seen that he's got a card up his sleeve and that his fly is undone.
I gave this movie 1/10, if only to balance the notoriously generous IMDb-crowd and lobbyists that for some reason beyond think this movie is worth 7.2/10. If I was drunk while watching and feeling particularly benevolent I might give it a weak 3/10.