Now You See Me 2

"Now You See Me" was a personal guilty pleasure of 2013, it was absolutely unpretentious and unbelievable but it knew it was so and with the help of a talented cast and a couple of good characters and story beats it turned out as a fine time at the theater. Its sequel starts out with the same unpretentious and fun vibe of the first only to slowly escalate up to what becomes one of the most lifeless and visually painful experiences of the year.

As I said the movie started out really fine, in the sense that it was doing what I wanted it to do. Nobody should or would walk into this film expecting the new "Heat", I just wanted to have some dumb fun, with a self referential film that doesn't take anything seriously and up to the fist two set-pieces of the film that's what I was getting. The cast was working the best they could and the action felt fluent and visually pleasing, there was a rhythm to it and a reason for it in particular.

Yet, as soon as we start getting into this film's second act things fall apart to a mind numbing degree and I mean that literally, my mind went blank with the level of stupidity and inconsequentially of what was going on, I watched this film in a state of trance where I couldn't tell if I was dozing off or simply bored to death.

"Now You See Me 2" takes the levels of suspense of disbelief to a whole new world where not even laughing at the film proves to be of any kind of satisfaction, everything going on is just visual noise and other than being filmed in the most uninteresting and unstylish way possible, it has no momentum, no character, it's just there for the sake of extravaganza and it keeps going on for unbelievable amounts of time and it never proves to be any kind of pleasant.

And we haven't even taken into consideration the logistical implications of what happens. It is just crazy. There is no grit of grounding of actions, stuff just keeps happening on top of other stuff and without any kind of character or story implications the film becomes more of a showcase of dull visual tricks. Not to mention the story twists it spices in which are preposterous to even think about and sprinkled with silly clichés and dialogue that not even Ruffalo or Freeman, two of the greatest actors, manage to make even passable.

I got a head ache from this movie, it was a terrible experience, I don't recommend it and the shortness of my review is reflective of how lost with words I am about it.

I really enjoyed the first NOW YOU SEE ME film. I thought that film's premise "magicians robbing a bank" was original and the execution of the unique script by Ed Solomon and Boaz Yakin by director Louis Leterrier was strong. Add to that the casting - Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco as "The Four Horseman", Melanie Laurent, Common and (especially) Mark Ruffalo as the cops who were chasing them and sprinkle in good ol' Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman into a plot that kept you guessing to the end and you had a fun ride.

My only question was, could the sequel capture the...wait for it...MAGIC (yes I went there) of the original?

And my answer is...sort of.

Kind of like seeing a magic show for the 2nd time, the spark of originality and wonderment was mostly missing this time around, consequently NOW YOU SEE ME 2 turned into a fairly standard crime/action caper - but with magic instead of guns, cars or fights.

All that said, I was still entertained by this film, but that enjoyment was filled with an undercurrent of disappointment as I wanted to by "wowed" like I was with the first film.

The script - written by Ed Solomon, one of the writers of the original, struck me as a "job script", that is, a script written for money from the studio vs. a "passion script" where the author has an idea they are passionate about and that passion is shown on the screen. Add to that the fact that Jon M.Chu - director of GI JOE: RETALIATION (not exactly CITIZEN KANE) - helmed this film and you have a movie that feels professional, competent and workman-like.

What saves this movie is the performances. Three of the horsemen are back (Isla Fisher had to bow out due to a pregnancy) and the bi- play and the interaction between Eisenberg, Harrelson and Franco fits like an old glove. They get to interact with Ruffalo more in this film and that's a plus. Freeman and Caine return and are as dependable as ever and newcomers Daniel Radcliffe, Tsai Chin and (especially) Jay Chou were fun. Only Lizzy Caplan's Lula didn't really work for me - I thought she was trying to hard to fill in for Fisher.

Interestingly enough, I could shake the feeling, as I was watching this film, that I was watching the 2nd chapter in a trilogy, even though this one did NOT end in a cliffhanger. Sure enough, upon further review, NOW YOU SEE ME 3 is currently filming.

All in all, I enjoyed this film, I just wish I could have been surprised more, like I was in the first film.

7 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank (of Marquis)

While the previous film was full of intrigue, mystery, and revelations, this film is a pale comparison to it's prequel. With considerably less action and more talk, the first half of the film manages to bore the audience. As well, this film gives off the feeling of trying too hard to be like the first one that it just falls short.

The acting is fine enough for the Horsemen, as they all reprise their roles. I did like Isla Fisher and her character, but unfortunately she got replaced by Lizzy Caplan, who isn't so bad either. I had a problem with Radcliffe's character. He was too weird, and his background was not very comprehensive. I also found out how short he actually is in this film. In addition, the film introduces Merritt's twin brother, Chase, played by Woody Harrelson. That was another no-no. Though the editing was done well enough between the two characters, the hair on 'Chase' was very obviously a wig which was unnerving. Needless to say, I found that the new characters were not a great addition.

As for the narrative, it kind of continues the story from the first film, but not in as much detail. As well, there are more elements involved in this film that detracts attention away from the main plot. This is what made it messy; with too many things going on the audience doesn't know which to focus on. And with no focus, the narrative just becomes jumbled up.

The effects are cool as usual. I especially liked the scene where they're tossing a card to each other. Visuals and coordination are nicely done there, and managed to engage the audience.

The ending felt a little too deja vu from the first one. As mentioned, it tries too hard to be like its predecessor that it just destroys itself. I'm not saying the film is not enjoyable, but while it isn't totally horrible, there is too much dialogue and not enough action. I'd liked to have seen more tricks, and less new characters who hardly had any foundation.

I could have written this review for 'Now You See Me I', as my appreciation for Tyler's work started there, but I thought I'd skip it, as he outdid himself in the second part. Yes, the NYSM films are arguably one of the most plot hole ridden franchises in Hollywood (not speaking about the non-decision if magic now is actually an existing thing or not), but strangely I found that after watching the first one and simply accepting the aforementioned fact I was able to really enjoy the second one. And I will re-view the first one as well with this attitude. Those are simply enjoyable films with good actors, nice scenery and lighthearted stories. But I want to direct your focus on something else I rarely read about here: The music by Brian Tyler. You may say about him what you want, but he really created an exception here. In our times, real pop-rock drums (I am not talking programmed drums and loops) as addition to orchestral music have fallen out of grace - Tyler was one of the first to bring them back. And boy, he knows how. In my world, the NYSM score is one of the most inventive soundtracks of our time. Not only does Tyler create a really powerful combination of orchestral and pop/rock music, he also manages to deliver a theme (or leitmotif) one is able to whistle after leaving the theater - also something that is not standard anymore, as soundtracks have become more like acoustic wallpaper these days. The music is really versatile in the most profound way. Just listen to 'The Setup' as a prime example. He morphs through all kinds of style from pop, rock, soul, swing and jazz in one single piece. And his real drums lend a power to the music that is unprecedented. Others have also started to incorporate this style of drumming in their music, but never as virtuosic as Tyler does here. If you like popcorn flicks, give the NYSMs try, and if you're into movie scores, keep your ears open. An oh, by the way: Listen to 'Can you dig it', his end title version of 'Iron Man 3' - it's right up there on the same level.

I must admit that I never heard of Now You See Me, and Now You See Me 2 until last week, May 2022. I bought the DVD of the first movie and loved it. Everyone in it was SO entertaining! So, I bought the sequel which arrived today.

While it has almost the same cast, Isla Fisher Is missing. Her vivacious personality is sorely missing. I had never seen her until I saw the movie, and I really liked her. So, I'm sorry she's gone. Her replacement isn't but, just not as good. I'm also sorry that I already know who was pulling the strings from the first movie.

The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is that we are walked through all their "tricks" this time, leaving the wonder that went with the first movie. I enjoyed trying to figure out how they did things, even missing the fact that some things had been set ups. They left that to the end in the first movie.

The things I missed most were the shows they put on for audiences in the first movie, and the camaraderie that they shared. Both are missing here.

All in all, the movie was a disappointment.