A decade later, and these crafty magicians still know how to put on a show.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t orchestrates a smoke-and-mirrors performance of cheap thrills and notable cameos. The third installment lacks substance, but never its trademark showmanship as the world’s greatest magicians team up to take down a diamond heiress with deadly ties to the group.
For all this film fails to do to impress its audience, it does manage to call back to a simpler time in cinema, where formula-following movies with flashy ensemble casts and box office-pleasing plots fulfilled our entertainment needs just fine. It’s enough to have the more sentimental moviegoers tearing up at Jesse Eisenberg’s stilted hero monologues.
The Horsemen may not have mastered the trick to a good sequel, but they sure know how to keep us coming back for more.
The sequel’s substance is in the misplaced camp — something Now You See Me 2 will never understand with its uninspired title.
By simply giving this sequel its long-requested tongue-in-cheek name, the third installment proves it is in on the joke this time. However, it is ultimately the act of hiring Rosamund Pike to play the unapologetically evil billionaire Veronika Vanderberg that shifts momentum in its favour.
It’s worth the price of admission to witness Pike chew the elegant scenery to shreds as this campy cartoon psychopath. The Gone Girl icon, with her arsenal of insane accents and wild-eyed monologues, is never once deterred by the daunting lack of depth she has to work with.
The diabolical diamond heiress has an evil lair hidden underneath an F1 track, and she proudly quotes Marie Antoinette’s “let them eat cake” to her adversaries. With a thirst for power and downright feral daddy issues, Veronika Vanderberg proudly struts her way through a dozen war crimes.
As far as villains go, you don’t get much better than that.
However, the true magic of the Now You See Me franchise lies in its fight scenes.
It weaponizes the goofy talents of these misfit magicians into something resembling an elite criminal skill set. From slicing card throws to slippery sleight of hand combat, it’s the one element of these heist films that never misses.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t doesn’t bother skirting around this fact, beefing up its run time with a plethora of heart-pounding action sequences.
The gala fight is a standout, finally giving us the first appearance of The Four Horsemen back in action. Dave Franko’s Jack Wilder shows off his loveable card throwing skills, and Isla Fisher makes her epic return with a flourish of quick changes. As the new and old faces of the franchise collide, it is a chaotic mess of flashbangs and champagne bottle throwing that feels reminiscent of the first film’s scrappy crowd work.
The reunion we’ve been waiting for does not disappoint either, as Now You See Me: Now You Don’t reunites Woody Harrelson, Eisenberg, Franco, and Fisher’s characters for the first time in a decade. From Harrelson and Pike facing off in a tense mind-reading session to Lizzy Caplan’s Lula coming to her fellow Horsemen’s aid, the entire ensemble’s chemistry is as delightful as ever to watch.
And the film expertly addresses the choice to replace Fisher with Caplan by allowing them to share the screen as Horsemen. One of the best moments of the sequel comes when the women reveal that, of course, they’re good friends because the circle of female magicians is incredibly small.
With another harrowing underwater scene for Fisher and lots of card throwing for Franco, this third outing makes sure to utilize all its greatest hits.
For all the good familiarity does, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t‘s refusal to stray from its stiff formula continues to be this concept’s downfall.
The dialogue is at times brutal and drowning in exposition, with these magicians constantly forced to tell, not show us, the plot. The continuation of using a mysterious organization called “The Eye” as the explanation for every new story development is hollow foreplay that lends little substance to the larger franchise.
Ironically, the one bold change this film does embrace isn’t unique in the slightest. Following in the footsteps of so many disappointing franchises, the third outing insists on introducing a new generation of magicians to draw in a fresh new fanbase.
Until the original Horsemen show up, it’s painful to see the film peddle these fresh-faced street magicians as the stars of the show. We don’t come to the theatres to see new actors act out an old concept, and it’s a waste of screentime.
That less-than-desirable choice doesn’t overshadow the fact that newcomers Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, and Justice Smith are exceptional actors. They do what they can to make their magicians interesting spectacles.
Greenblatt has a standout combat sequence near the end of the film, Smith is an excellent red herring, and Sessa’s comedic plea for Ricky Bobby to help him drive is a laugh-out-loud moment.
Ultimately, we have to give flowers where flowers are due. If it weren’t for the exposition-heavy script, the big finale twist would have rightfully shaken us to our core. It’s a pretty epic twist and one that the film leaves enough breadcrumbs for so that it feels rather clever.
The first and third films have several of these impressive “gotcha” moments, suggesting this franchise is good enough to outsmart its audience. Why it doesn’t embrace that sharp wit in its plot structure is one of cinema’s great mysteries.
All that said, we asked for this movie to be made.
Despite years on the shelf, the franchise came out of retirement at a time when so many fans feel we don’t have a voice in what gets made.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t does reinvent the formula (it doesn’t even bother to try), and it certainly doesn’t justify why the first film needed a franchise spanning several decades. It also answers almost no questions about the mysterious all-seeing organization Atlas has been chasing for thirteen years.
But it’s a safe bet when deciding what movie to risk an expensive night at the cinema on.
Which is likely why it dominated the box office without having to reinvent itself. Because the one thing we desperately crave now more than ever is familiarity — and this movie is all about delivering the fanfare that its devoted fans requested.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t isn’t in the business of making a great film. However, its illusions of nostalgia are enough to justify making a dozen more of these sequels.
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