Review of Now You See Me (2013) by Leigh H — 26 Dec 2014

At the moment there are people in this world who fascinate me, people who climb through glass, walk on water, disappear in front of an entire room, place mobiles in drinking bottles, manipulate a situation so intensely they can suck in an entire audience or make one man believe the world has ended. So when a film about these people come to the big screen direct from Hollywood I can only imagine and hope for an amazing experience.

That there is the problem. A thin story about revenge with some grand illusions and sleight of hand does not make the move I wanted to see. I went into ?#?NowYouSeeMe? eyes wide open, ready for wonder and amazement but also well aware the true magic behind a magician is the story they tell within their acts. Something was lost in that transition on the screen, don't get me wrong, the magic worked but there wasn't enough build up or story to help the actors along with what they were attempting to pull off . You see, when you see an actual magician in life you are there, you are aware there is no camera tricks, no cutaways, no bedazzling just pure misdirected amusement. Unlike in a film, where you have been brought up accepting all of Hollywood's big tricks and unfortunately your mind never accepts what is going on, because of such you never truly let the film in.

Don't get me wrong this film was amazing in fact I loved it, I loved the illusions, loved the characters attitude, loved the good vs bad, cops vs robbers script. It wasn't until the film was over that slowly I began picking it apart. Having very empty plot lines never explained always annoys me, I know its something a lot of directors try to do to leave the film with a mysterious ending but for me it's an annoying and a lazy habit. A few twist and turns and abracadabra accept the facts that were never explained is what the viewer is expected to take on board.

One fantastic thing about the film is the cast from it's heros to its villains ?#?JesseEisenberg? as J. Daniel Atlas (The Lovers), an illusionist and the ringleader of The Four Horsemen.

?#?MarkRuffalo?

As Dylan Rhodes, an FBI agent called to investigate the bank theft.

?#?WoodyHarrelson? as Merritt McKinney (The Hermit), a mentalist.

?#?IslaFisher? as Henley Reeves (The High Priestess), an escapologist.

?#?DaveFranco? as Jack Wilder (Death), a sleight of hand illusionist.(also well worth seeing the film for, very spunky).

?#?MélanieLaurent? as Alma Dray, an Interpol agent who is partnered up with Dylan Rhodes to investigate the bank theft.

?#?MorganFreeman? as Thaddeus Bradley, an ex-magician who makes money by revealing the secrets behind other magicians' tricks.

?#?MichaelCaine? as Arthur Tressler, The Four Horsemen's sponsor.

It's unfortunate for the cast they weren't given something better to play with. ?#?LouisLeterrier? the director (Transporter, Unleashed, Clash of the Titans)tries really hard to make this work and knowing some of his other big action films I have to ask myself why didn't this, what did he do so differently. I wanted more but maybe it was just what he was after. Do better next time #LouisLeterrier.

"The closer you look the less you see".

So the story... Starts of with a quick 2 min introduction of each character basically showing us they are 4 small fish in what could be a very big pond, each is given a tarot card with instructions to meet at an address at 4:40pm on a specific day. They meet and great break into a room where they find a funny symbol on the floor and activate a holograph of blueprints. Cut ahead to 1 yr later where the same 4 small fish have actually become very big fish, with big sellout shows and their name now known everywhere as ?#?TheFourHorsemen?, their grand finale for this big show is to rob a bank using the audience to assist. What happens next can only be seen as magical as an audience member is transported thousands of km's away to a bank in Paris and what seems impossible is in fact possible and profitable A cat and mouse chase ensues for the next 2 hours with all levels of the worlds law chasing after them. The Four Horsemen promise 2 more big shows with the third being their BIG finale, so now the FBI and Interpol have only a few days to figure out how and why.

Some big illusions, big visuals and the unknown definitely kept me entertained but no character development, some very big plot holes and scenes too big to even recognise exactly what is taking place left me disappointed.

In saying all that, this is film that has been made to be enjoyed and while I was watching it I did totally enjoy it, I didn't really think about the plot holes, the why is he there scenes, the hard to accept ending. I just enjoyed my time, so if you decide to see this one go with an open mind and accept the fact not all films have to be explained but it is nice when they are.

If anyone ever finds out what ?#?TheEye? actually is please let me know I so want to join!

3 out of 5 BanShee Screams.

X.

#NowYouSeeMe.