Review of Now You See Me 2 (2016) by Douglas M — 15 Dec 2016

Movie sequels are inevitable, at least if the box office exceeds the movie's budget by a margin deemed acceptable by the suited executives controlling the studio's finances. At one point in time, other considering factors before the allocation of time and money for an extension of the original story. Elements including whether the original movie left the audience sufficiently invested with the character to crave more details. Currently, the upper end of box office gross exceeds the Gross National Product of a moderate size country the bar for films below that exalted tier are spawning sequels, prequels, and even reimaginings. The film considered here, 'Now You See Me 2,' a lackluster follow-up to Now You See Me 'the original movie squeaked by with a box office of $118 million on a budget of $75 million, not exactly a major success. Compounding my curiosity as to why the second film made it past pre-production is the consensus by critics and viewers was mediocre. After many discussions with other cinephiles experience watching movies we could barely rationalize some of the artistic and business choices of the first flick lead up to the question hovering on this offering, was it necessary? Did it add anything of value to the story's progression or character development? After my initial viewing of the second film, I decided to go back and re-watch both, back to back. What I found disturbing is that even after the full experience of the entire story those questions remained unanswered. Hopefully, since the latest try fell short of recouping the studio's investment, a trilogy is off the table. Please note, the announcement of 'Now Yiu See Me 3' was recently made. With that said the movie could be considered a reasonable popcorn flick to watch during an uneventful afternoon. It is perfectly acceptable to demand greatness from a certain station of cinema, but you have to understand that the intended purpose of most movies is casual entertainment. not greatness.

Just because the cast includes some of the most talented and creative actors in doesn't necessarily imply the movie will be of staggering importance. From a critical perspective, an analysis of the technical craftsmanship and emotional impact is fairly applied. That doesn't think that a film lacking in gravitas cannot be fun to watch. Place your expectations in their proper perspective. Think of it like ordering a meal. There are a time and place for a five-star meal exquisitely prepared that excites your palette with a complex experience of tastes and nuances. That there are times you want some chicken nuggets and fries, hardly a gastronomical delight but fast food can be fun. Unfortunately, the Nuggets lack crispiness and were lukewarm. The fundamental plot of this sequel is too similar to the original, enough so that little is provided that would expand upon the audience's perception or understanding of the main characters. As mention the entire purpose of a sequel is to offer fans something more, extending the elements that initially attracted them to the story, as far as I could discern there was insufficient need to justify this flick.

The mega group of illusionist and magicians known as the Four Horsemen are back, well, at least three of them; J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco). The beautiful illusionist, Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), grew tired of waiting in hiding for the enigmatic mastermind of the entire affair, the Eye, leaving the Horsemen. Her replacement is another attractive woman, illusionist Lula May (Lizzy Caplan). Once again their roster is complete they decide to proactively track down their mysterious puppet master, the Eye, who orchestrated the events of the first film. Their first performance was held in Las Vegas where they seemingly made a volunteer from the audience teleport to the Crédit Républicain bank in Paris. The bewildered man is staring at a pile of new euro that are pulled in by fans in the vault and sprayed out in Las Vegas. The bills in Nevada are validated as genuine. The international nature of the crime places the crime in the jurisdiction of Interpol represented by Agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) who is partnered with FBI Special Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) determine to capture the Horsemen after they escaped the first time.

The next block of time spent on a couple of other heists, pursuits, near captures and escapes with casually thrown in for good measure. While the actual details of the various crimes are pedantic, I do readily admit that the special effects are imaginative and very well executed. The general qualities of the special are, regrettably, beyond what deserves. In coming years critical and cinematic scholastic considerations will be able to cite this movie as a prime example of the phrase; 'all sizzle and no steak'. Albeit, while watching imagery is enjoyable and fun to experience it is not satisfy the natural need for a coherent story. Young children can be complacent with the dazzling display but once you're past learning your ABC's you will demand a story they can follow even if it's rudimentary.

One new addition to the roster as the technological wizard, Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), the son of the Horsemen's former financial sponsor, Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). He is an entrepreneur seeking revenge on the Horsemen for losing a sizable amount of his money. Ever since his turbulent career in Wizardry school Mr. Radcliffe has embarked upon a brilliantly planned transition out of one of the successful franchises ever to establishing himself as a strongly talented journeyman actor. Tackling such an amazing spectrum of characters from a modern interpretation Dr. Frankenstein's laboratory assistant to a young man sprouting ram-like horns he has taken every role with control and expertise. He was even compelling as a corpse in his most recent portrayal of a corpse. His has traded in his magic wand for a very capable and ingenious agent. Along with the performance provided by the ever energetic Ms. Kaplan they add a certain feeling that somebody was trying. Even with that said this is not their best performances and definitely not indicative of their talent or potential.

Traditionally, the caper flick is a gene liberally permeated with humor and what would best be referred to as 'zany antics'. It can be truthfully stated that an attempt was made to achieve this albeit with limited success. The director, Jon M. Chu, does have experience with sequels on the order of 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation', two of the 'Step-Up' franchise; Step Up 2: The Streets'' and 'Step Up 3D' and two Justin Bieber concert documentaries. He is also part of movie history for directing 'Jem and the Holograms'. Its opening weekend yielded the worst box office ever; it was pulled from 2,400 theaters after a mere two weeks. Nothing in this list of credits indicates understanding of the particular nuances of a visually dependent heist movie. The jump from Justin Bieber, a group of Disney regulars and an action flick based on a toy line popular in the sixties, has to be incredibly difficult under any circumstances. You can hardly blame Sisyphus for the rock rolling downhill over him no matter how hard he tries. If you really want to impress your friends the movie is available in 4K.