Now
You See Me is the new film on the block revolving entirely around magic! I know, we already had two films not that long ago whose plots involved magical phenomena, The Illusionist and The Prestige. The difference between those films and Now You See Me is the desired outcome of the performers, and the effect those results played on the world. This film revolves around a quartet of magicians who refer to themselves as The Four Horsemen (how ominous), they each bring a different skill to the table, and each just as important as the first.
The Horsemen originate as individual acts, touring all different stages and locations, until a "mystical being" brings them together with the promise of becoming members of an exclusive society known as The Eye. It is comprised of a group of “magicians” [con-men] originating in ancient Egypt and adapting to a much larger scale throughout the centuries. For some reason, their initiation required them to become greater and more “feared”, ultimately turning them into Robin Hoods in disguise. They would steal from the rich, give back to the poor and not keep a dime for themselves. It was not clearly stated if becoming Robin Hood was a necessary part of the process or if they just needed to steal for the purpose of stealing...probably just something to make the story seem more interesting. Because these magicians have suddenly transformed into bank robbing, identity thieving, professional criminals, the FBI becomes interested in them and demands answers. What begins as an "innocent" magic act turns into a huge elaborate series of events. As can be assumed and expected, the magicians seem to have the right playing cards in all encounters: fighting, evading, planning. However, what we know about all heist type films is that in the end the bad guys get what's coming to them...except in this film. What's remarkable actually about this film is that the ending was unpredictable yet at the same time obvious, incredibly poor and quite the let down. The film started out on a high note and continued with that intensity and excitement throughout the film until the reveal of the "mystical being". That was the point in the film when things were finally brought to a close and I couldn't stop shaking my head out of annoyance and utter disappointment. Seriously people, I haven't been this disappointed since I found out that Bruce Willis was already dead!
Now that the plot has been established, let's take a look at the wide ranged cast assembled to help move this story from mere thought to a series of images and sound pieced together for the purpose of sheer entertainment. Making up the Four Horsemen we have: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson. None of whom are fresh faces to the silver screen, yet as a whole are relative newbies when compared to Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. These two Hollywood Vets are most definitely (in order to buff up the credits) the big names attached to Now You See Me. Finally, we have Mark Ruffalo playing the FBI agent whose interest in the group went from cold to hot and then to what?? It's safe to say that this film and its director [casting department] went out of their way in order to find a very eclectic group of actors and actresses. Not every name could draw the audience desired, but together they made up an interesting group of individuals. As previously stated each character and conversely actor brought a very unique presence to the story and screen allowing for a realistic feel and flow from start to finish. Their actions and reactions seemed genuine and believable in all matters that would be expected in a heist type film, and where we find good acting, we usually find good directing.
Now you See Me was directed by Louis Leterrier; no need to be shocked or disappointed if the name doesn't ring familiar. Leterrier is not what I have called in the past a "heavyweight" when it comes to directing. He has a hand full of features under his belt all of which revolve around a fast paced action themed story-line: Transporter 1 & 2, Clash of the Titans, 2008's Incredible Hulk and of course Now You See Me. It is truly tough to give proper directing credit to a film not laden with a sad dramatic acting presence. This is the reason you don't see guys like Leterrier winning Oscars, however, I can safely say that making movies is a similar process to pulling off magic tricks. There are numerous steps along the way, and when done properly the viewer of the magic trick, or in this case the film, believe that what the magician, or director, pulled off was in fact a fluid seamless process.
The Horsemen originate as individual acts, touring all different stages and locations, until a "mystical being" brings them together with the promise of becoming members of an exclusive society known as The Eye. It is comprised of a group of “magicians” [con-men] originating in ancient Egypt and adapting to a much larger scale throughout the centuries. For some reason, their initiation required them to become greater and more “feared”, ultimately turning them into Robin Hoods in disguise. They would steal from the rich, give back to the poor and not keep a dime for themselves. It was not clearly stated if becoming Robin Hood was a necessary part of the process or if they just needed to steal for the purpose of stealing...probably just something to make the story seem more interesting. Because these magicians have suddenly transformed into bank robbing, identity thieving, professional criminals, the FBI becomes interested in them and demands answers. What begins as an "innocent" magic act turns into a huge elaborate series of events. As can be assumed and expected, the magicians seem to have the right playing cards in all encounters: fighting, evading, planning. However, what we know about all heist type films is that in the end the bad guys get what's coming to them...except in this film. What's remarkable actually about this film is that the ending was unpredictable yet at the same time obvious, incredibly poor and quite the let down. The film started out on a high note and continued with that intensity and excitement throughout the film until the reveal of the "mystical being". That was the point in the film when things were finally brought to a close and I couldn't stop shaking my head out of annoyance and utter disappointment. Seriously people, I haven't been this disappointed since I found out that Bruce Willis was already dead!
Now that the plot has been established, let's take a look at the wide ranged cast assembled to help move this story from mere thought to a series of images and sound pieced together for the purpose of sheer entertainment. Making up the Four Horsemen we have: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson. None of whom are fresh faces to the silver screen, yet as a whole are relative newbies when compared to Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. These two Hollywood Vets are most definitely (in order to buff up the credits) the big names attached to Now You See Me. Finally, we have Mark Ruffalo playing the FBI agent whose interest in the group went from cold to hot and then to what?? It's safe to say that this film and its director [casting department] went out of their way in order to find a very eclectic group of actors and actresses. Not every name could draw the audience desired, but together they made up an interesting group of individuals. As previously stated each character and conversely actor brought a very unique presence to the story and screen allowing for a realistic feel and flow from start to finish. Their actions and reactions seemed genuine and believable in all matters that would be expected in a heist type film, and where we find good acting, we usually find good directing.
Now you See Me was directed by Louis Leterrier; no need to be shocked or disappointed if the name doesn't ring familiar. Leterrier is not what I have called in the past a "heavyweight" when it comes to directing. He has a hand full of features under his belt all of which revolve around a fast paced action themed story-line: Transporter 1 & 2, Clash of the Titans, 2008's Incredible Hulk and of course Now You See Me. It is truly tough to give proper directing credit to a film not laden with a sad dramatic acting presence. This is the reason you don't see guys like Leterrier winning Oscars, however, I can safely say that making movies is a similar process to pulling off magic tricks. There are numerous steps along the way, and when done properly the viewer of the magic trick, or in this case the film, believe that what the magician, or director, pulled off was in fact a fluid seamless process.
Is this your card? No?! Well, shoot.
The majority of this film was well thought out, entertaining,
original, suspenseful, action-packed and then the bomb was dropped. I instantly went from believing this film had great potential and promise to seeing how bad
and much too obvious the "twist" was. I would love the opportunity to ask the writers
what they were thinking when writing this ending. Why not make the ending
on par with the rest of the movie? There were many ways they could have
twisted the plot and yet they went a direction which made little sense.
Despite the disappointing ending, Now You See Me is worth
watching. If you wanted to watch this film based off of
the commercials and ads and wanted to see it before reading this
review, then by all means, go to Fandango and purchase those tickets! Some
of you may not be as bothered by the weak ending as I am. It is worth it
to see simply based on the first 95% of this film. The opening scenes,
fight/car chase sequences and the special effects are all really great. The locations and sets: Las Vegas, New York, New Orleans, were all very extravagant and beautifully dressed. The camera moves and look of the film were very inviting to the eye (not the magic group) and you were very quickly pulled into the story. The magic tricks were elaborate and fancy, while also being just the distraction needed for bank robbers. Unfortunately, it was the
ending that ruined this movie for me and because it was the end, there was no story left to turn this issue around and make this film better.
Final Words: Medium Popcorn.
This film was a tough one to score. I really enjoyed the majority of it, as I said above something like 95% of it was a Large+ Popcorn, but the ending really bothered me. So I feel I can only give this film a Medium. Again some of you may find no problem with the ending, so do yourselves a favor and see this film. It's fun and entertaining and worth admission, especially matinee. I would avoid taking the young ones, this film has some language and intense sequences.
Until next time, happy viewing!
Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping
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