All Flash and No Depth; Average Summer Fare

Rating: 7/10 (8 November 2013)

I'm not sure what I was hoping for with NOW YOU SEE ME, but I should've known going in that I shouldn't expect a real tight, suspenseful heist film. That might be what I wanted, but director Louis Leterrier was more interested in putting out another flashy summer action movie. The movie's not much more than a flashy spectacle that attempts to shoehorn a big "twist" into the end of the film, but it all left me feeling a little disappointed at the end. As a big fan of THE PRESTIGE, I have a nasty tendency of going in to movie's centering on magicians with high hopes that it will strive for that level of drama in the world of magic. This year I've been let down twice: this and THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE. Though Leterrier's magical heist film is nowhere near as derivative as that Steve Carell dud. Instead, it's just your average "turn off the brain" summer entertainment. NOW YOU SEE ME opens with introductions to four low-level magicians: J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) is a semi- successful street magician, Henley Reeves (Fisher) is Atlas's former assistant who's gone on to create her own act, Merritt McKinney (Harrelson) is a mentalist struggling to regain his former fame, and Jack Wilder (Franco) is a street-level sleight-of-hand artist. Each of them receives a mysterious invitation that soon leads to an immensely successful show together as the Four Horsemen. When their show in Las Vegas concludes with the seemingly magical theft of millions of Euros from a bank vault in Paris, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is assigned with an Interpol agent (Laurent) to put an end to it before the Horsemen strike again.
There are a couple problems I have with this movie. I was hoping, if nothing else, that it would treat the magic in the movie as true illusions. I loved the idea of stage magicians using their craft to dazzle audiences with their show while baffling the authorities with their crafty heist jobs. The movie abandons any hope of that by incorporating CG effects into the illusions, giving them an otherworldly appearance and ruining any feeling of grounding in reality. During the first Horsemen show in Las Vegas, Leterrier uses some horrible CG effect for some floating black clothes in the reveal of the "transporter" and reinforced it in New Orleans when Henley takes flight in a giant bubble over the audience. Feasible? Maybe, but it felt like a little too much and suddenly the magicians didn't feel real. Next is the whole concept of "The Eye". The Eye is some secret society of magicians dating back to ancient Egypt that was dropped into the plot as some sort of motivation behind the magicians' heists. I don't know about anyone else's opinion, but personally I would've enjoyed it more if the magicians weren't supposed to be anti-heroes but really were just incredibly talented thieves that used their shows and complex illusions to get away with incredible robberies. The Horsemen's selfless acts are secretly manipulated and funded(?) by an unknown fifth figure a fifth Horseman. The reveal at the end of the film of the fifth Horseman's identity is one I saw coming but also hoped I was wrong about because it was just too lame. In addition to being somewhat disappointing, it also raised a lot of questions/problems about everything that had preceded it. Not to mention all the logistical problems behind it.
But, if you're ready and willing to shut down your brain, NOW YOU SEE ME is a decently fun two hours. There's a fair bit of action in the film and director Louis Leterrier has proved skills in the genre (yes, I liked THE INCREDIBLE HULK). There's a pretty wicked fight scene about halfway through the film between Ruffalo and Franco that ends with the obligatory overblown car chase every successful summer blockbuster needs. And the glimpse into the Horsemen's more grounded illusions and how they pull off some of their heists is pretty cool. Plus, you really can't complain with such an awesome cast on hand. Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, and Melanie Laurent. It's a pretty stacked team here. If the material were stronger, we'd probably have a real killer movie. The material doesn't live up to the potential of bringing all these choice actors together. Still, they bring their usual quality performances to the game and that alone is enough to earn the movie some brownie points. All things considered, NOW YOU SEE ME balances it strengths and weaknesses to be a serviceable summer action movie. Set your expectations to mid-level and you'll be fine. With a sequel on the way and that lame fifth Horseman reveal finished, maybe the filmmakers can wow us with the next inevitable movie.