Slick all-star nonsense is still nonsense

Rating: Null/10 (26 October 2013)

Now You See Me starts out really well. A group of illusionists are brought together and within a year they are playing Vegas together and appear to rob a bank in Paris remotely. This draws in the FBI and Interpol but how can they prove anything when it all seems so impossible and so hard to prove? This setup offers a twisty and engaging plot but sadly it is one that never gets delivered upon. Instead what we get is a constantly moving film that is loaded with stars, money and special effects but nothing of nay real substance.
This approach works really well when it comes to the slickness of delivery and how polished it all feels, but it is so very unsatisfying as a whole product. The twists and turns of the film are almost all nonsense – slickly elaborate and delivered with pace for sure, but with nothing behind of any substance. As a result I stopped caring about the plot or about working out what was going on behind the theatrics. Movement appeared to be the all and after a while I tired of it. The slick delivery is all well and good and it is added to by the cast – so many faces, so many quality actors all getting handsomely paid but doing very little. It felt like a waste.
It isn't a terrible film by any means; the pace and slickness makes it work on that level but it does very little else which is engaging or memorable. It is fluff that fills the time but leaves you with nothing after that.