“The problem is you like to overcomplicate things.” – Dialogue from Now You See Me: Now You Don’tÂ
That might be true with the Now You See Me movies in terms of how these characters and the actors who play them go through with their labyrinthine tricks and heists, but they seem to have a lot of fun getting through that labyrinth.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the third installment, and for most of its runtime, it brings a lot of the style, energy, and sly humor this series is known for. How much of that is appealing before it becomes passe is another matter.
Jesse Eisenberg is back as J. Daniel Atlas, the leader of the Four Horsemen, but they’ve gone their separate ways. He encounters three young magicians who create an elaborate forgery of the Horsemen performing a magic act. They are Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa) and June (Ariana Greenblatt).
Atlas decides to enlist their expertise to help steal a giant diamond known as “The Heart,” which is in South Africa. The diamond is in the hands of a businesswoman named Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike). She is supposedly involved in some pretty shady business dealings.
While down in South Africa, the remaining Horsemen (Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher) get in on the action, and they also pay a visit to Morgan Freeman’s Thaddeus for further clues.
The scenes of the Horsemen using their magic to fool their enemies are pretty clever, and there are plenty of scenes that help keep the pace moving briskly. However, there are also the obligatory scenes that show how the Horsemen are able to pull off their routines, which is somewhat dubious given their methods could be easily seen.
The Now You See Me movies have the same vibe as the Ocean’s Eleven movies in that we get a group of smooth operators who are able to get themselves in and out of some pretty preposterous predicaments, and yet we love watching them because the characters are likable and crafty.
The movie never descends into elaborate chase scenes or massive special effects, but rather relies on wit and style to carry the actors through from one sequence to another. That’s a plus for a movie like this.
I wonder if the Horsemen have anything left in the tank after this effort, but I’m sure, like any magician, if it’s successful, there’s bound to be another ace up their sleeve.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is disposable fun.
Grade: B
(Rated PG-13 for some strong language, violence and suggestive references.)
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