Now You See Me (2013)

Now You See Me (2013)

This movie had a lot of hype when it first came out.  The trailer said it all; three hot young magicians and Woody Harrelson use magic to rob a bank!  Shut up and take my money!  I did not end up going to this movie in theatres, in fact I didn’t even pay to see it, and boy am I glad that I didn’t.  This movie is a fun ride while you’re watching it but ultimately leaves you feeling insulted for about ten minutes afterwards, then you forget about it entirely.

There is little to no character development in this movie.  The four magicians are all shown to be doing their own acts separately.  They are marginally successful, and clearly talented, but not as famous or popular as they would like to be.  Each of the magicians can be summed up in a less than a sentence;  Jesse Eisenberg plays Danny Atlas (asshole), Woody Harrelson plays Merritt (old asshole) Isla Fisher plays Henley (female) and Dave Franco plays Jack Wilder (actually kind of cool and charming on the outside, asshole inside).

A hooded stranger unites them all, and leaves an anonymous set of instructions that he somehow knows they will follow without question.  All of a sudden it’s a year later and the four lowly magicians have united to wear tuxedoes and put on the single biggest act in magic history.  We learn nothing of their struggles or anything at all about their characters.  They simply continue to be one dimensional and for the most part, jerks.  Every time Jesse Eisenberg goes on one of his condescending monologues about looking closely and watching his hands I feel like I am supposed to be amazed and shocked that he can trick me so easily.

 Anyway the four magicians, who are so egotistical that they prefer to be referred to in biblical terms as the Four Horsemen, get right into the bank robbery (the main selling point in the trailer) within half an hour.  I thought this was supposed to be the apex of the movie?  I wish it was, this movie was way to god damn long, it really tested my infantile attention span.  I did find myself playing Candy Crush a couple times though, generally any time the horsemen were lecturing the audience about how sleight of hand works.

SPOILER ALERT: After successfully robbing the bank, the FBI is after the four horsemen.  The completely rational and intelligent Agent Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is constantly reminded how stupid and blundering he is by the illusive magicians as he attempts to do his job and get to the bottom of a bank robbery.  

Fuck my life

Frustrated, Rhodes enlists the help of celebrity magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan “God” Freeman).  There is also a female Interpol agent who is flown in to assist Rhodes, but she is completely useless and hardly worth mentioning at all (maybe Rhodes wants to fuck her?).  Both Rhodes and Bradley attend the Four Horsemen’s shows and try to figure out how they are doing their tricks (most of which involve stealing money and getting away with it).  From my perspective, all of the magician’s tricks are easy to figure out, it’s all fucking CG.  I feel like the “Illusions” should at least look like they are real and make you forget that you are watching a big budget movie with computer techs editing in the illusions afterwards.  

Bradley, using only a cheap looking handy cam, figures out the horseman’s tricks basically the minute he sees them.  The only problem is that his explanations are even less believable than if you just believed in the god damn magic.  The secrets behind the tricks are so far fetched and unbelievable, you are guaranteed to be shocked by each one.  Shocked and cheated. 

The character that gets the most development and seems the most realistic is Rhodes, so most people who watch this movie will probably relate to him.  Like Rhodes, the audience will be constantly reminded how incompetent and moronic we must be by these cocky and impossibly talented, charming, young magicians.

All the magicians I've ever seen look more like this

 Seriously how old are these guys?  I’m almost 22 and all I can make disappear is hours of my life watching garbage like this film.  How are these kids even able to get into the casinos they are performing in, never mind pulling off heists.   

The ending is bad, but I won’t be the one to spoil it for you.  This movie had potential to be good, and there are certain people out there who will still enjoy it because they are distracted by the pretty magic, but I just can’t bring myself to say anything overly positive about this film.  Most of the actors are famous and recognisable (They were all pretty good at playing cocky assholes anyway), the cinematography was good, and there was clearly a lot of money funnelled into this movie.  For production value alone I am obligated to give this entirely forgettable movie…

5/10