Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is a solid sequel that completes a really fun trilogy. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed this film because in an industry that thrives on making more and more sequels that are too over the top and ridiculous, but the Now You See Me movies don’t seem as far-fetched even when dealing with magic as something like the Fast and the Furious movies. I love the first movie, and I didn’t think there was much life in the franchise especially when they made a subpar sequel with the second film. It wasn’t bad, just not as good as the first, which can often be said about most sequels. But the third entry in the franchise is a fun film which also introduces some younger magicians who hold their own with the original Four Horsemen. And it’s great to have Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher back especially since she was missing from the second film. But just like the first two films, the third offers plenty of action and illusion while giving us a great villain played by Rosamund Pike. The sequels are certainly not as good as the first movie, but this latest entry which I think is better than the second movie holds its own and provides a lot of great entertainment especially if your fans of this franchise.
We’re immediately introduced to a young crew of magicians who have their own secret agenda when they are accidentally brought together with the Four Horsemen who have since broken up and gone their separate ways. This movie is set 10 years after the first. You can call it magical fate, but the “Eye” brings all these magicians together to take down what might be their most dangerous criminal. The plot seems simple, but don’t be fooled just when you have it figured out, It’s the complete opposite. There’s a lot that I can’t really talk about without spoiling the movie and like a good movie where magic and illusion are at the very heart of the story, me spoiling the movie would be like telling you how the trick works. Here’s what’s great about this film and make it worth watching. There’s incredible chemistry with the cast of magicians. There may be a lot of them in this story, but everybody is great with one another. It’s almost like they pick back up where they left off in the last two movies. It’s easy to root for this motley Crüe of magicians when they’re taking down criminals. The action is great, the illusions are fantastic, and we get a fun movie that truly entertains and is believable. You especially see this when they are in an old French Chateau that serves as a museum of magic. Plus, we also get a great cameo by Morgan Freeman.
But the film is not without its problems. Probably the biggest critique of this film I have is its fairly predictable. We all know that mostly what we are seeing on screen is an illusion as this film certainly follows the same formula as the first two. The magic is cool. The illusions are entertaining, but we’re not seeing anything new. This is not a unique film and adding more characters doesn’t necessarily make it a better movie. At times it is chaotic as this film doesn’t center on the four primary magicians. And as much as I love Rosamund Pike, She might play the most terrible villain that the horseman have taken down, but not necessarily the most frightening. She played a great villain in the James Bond film, Die Another Day… a better villain than what we see in this film, but knowing her secrets, it’s easy to root against her character. However, she’s funny and entertaining in the film and makes for a great foil against the new and old magicians in the movie. I do love the title and it’s a great homage to magic, but this film unlike the title doesn’t always deliver on its surprises. In fact, I figured out the big secret very early in the film as the foreshadowing was a little thick. But this is a minor critique and doesn’t take away from how entertaining the film can be.
The third movie definitely adds a lot of life to this franchise and still offers more room to grow. I’m not saying there should be 10 movies, but like the Oceans 11 movies, this franchise should probably top out at three movies without actually taking away any of the “magic” from the films. They’re highly entertaining and the third movie corrects a lot of the things that were wrong with the second movie. However, like I said before, this movie is better than I thought it was going to be Hannah great way to end the franchise without it being ruined by too many bad sequels. I’ve always felt like Now You See Me should be a trilogy and this film is the perfect way to bookend some fun movies. The performances are good, even the younger actors who played the new magicians had plenty of moments to shine. And I definitely think it’s worth the price of a movie ticket, but if you don’t happen to catch in the theater, definitely rent it because a cold Saturday or Sunday afternoon is perfect to watch all three films. While there’s a lot more I can talk about, I won’t dare give you any spoilers because you should be surprised just like I was after watching this movie. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is highly entertaining and doesn’t completely disappoint despite the predictability at times. If you’re a fan of the first two movies, then you’ll love the third!
