Review of Now You See Me 2 (2016) by Arthurspooner — 02 Jul 2016

I'm a big fan of the first film and was very much looking forward to the sequel, but it sadly didn't live up to its predecessor. First off, the departure of Isla Fisher and sloppy introduction of Lizzy Caplan as the "girl horseman" threw off the chemistry that the horsemen had developed from the first film; had the producers waited to shoot until after Fisher's pregnancy in order to keep her in, I feel that the sequel would have slightly improved.

However, there were other shortcomings as well, the most significant being a poorly constructed plot that seemed to create confusion and complication just for confusion and complication's sake. In addition, the POV switch from the horsemen to Rhodes took away from the magic of the main cast, and the ending, while attempting to mimic the twist of the first film, was far from shocking.

All in all, I'd say that the original Now You See Me is worthy of multiple viewings, but you likely won't regret it if you pass over the sequel.