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Now You See Me is a summer film that builds up suspense with grand illusions and some fun trickery, but perhaps making the big twist a little more unpredictable would have been much more suspenseful and fulfilling.
The Four Horsemen (Eisenberg, Fisher, Harrelson and Franco) are brought together by an unknown horse and hit it big when during the final act of their show they rob a bank all the way in Paris, France while performing in Vegas. This gets the attention of the FBI and Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is assigned to the case. As the Horsemen promise more two more shows and even bigger rewards, the FBI must try and remain one step ahead of the magicians.
Lead by an incredibly talented cast, Now You See Me is a fun action adventure right from the start. The illusions are grand, creating a suspenseful feel to a slowly becomes a thriller film. Eisenberg is fantastic as the fast talking, arrogant and self righteous Daniel Atlas, the ringleader of this group of magicians. Eisenberg uses his signature style of speaking, but this time he shows his range by acting more arrogant then nervous. Harrelson plays the mentalist of the group, who uses his ability to read people and play them in any situation to his own advantage. Franco is the smooth criminal type of the group, the quick on his feet card shark type who knows how to get out a jam. Last but certainly not least of the four main leads is the vixen and female David Copperfield Henley Reeves played by the lovely Isla Fisher. She was incredible, her performance right up there with some of her more notable ones. When you make these four incredible actors share the screen and action sequences, there is plenty of room for fun and excitement.
The problem with Now You See Me is not in the acting department, it is in the writing one. With Act One, probably the most solidly written elaborate heist plot in a long time, Act 2 decides to follow suit with an even more intriguing revenge plot. Unfortunately that leaves little room for Act 3 to outdo the first two and so screenwriters Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt decide to make it just another movie that becomes a typical thriller, by creating a chase scene that results in the grandest of endings but never really means anything because by this point too many hints have been dropped and too much is actually happening that you begin to lose interest in anything but the magic happening on screen. The rest of it is a boring lacklustre investigative film, coupled with a cheesy romance subplot that results in one the most not so shocking reveals.
When you lose the investment in a cast like this, you know something has been done wrong. This one falls primarily with the writers, because director Louis Leterrier created one of this year’s most jaw dropping films. The visuals, the set pieces, the action scenes were all so grandiose and magnificent it was one of the few things that kept this movie solidly entertaining from start to finish. When the film is always trying to play mind tricks on its audience, the biggest one to figure out should be the final pay-off of whodunit.
In a 2013 that so far seems to be heading in the right direction, Now You See Me is definitely one of the most enjoyable films so far despite the flaws it does have. They are unavoidable but if you can deal with them, you will find yourself invested in the characters and the overall plot.
8/10
