Review of Now You See Me (2013) by Scrawnypunk — 13 Jun 2013

This was one of my worst movie experiences in the past ten years: terribly derivative, intellectually insulting, and a complete waste of time. The sequence of events are too convenient for a heist movie, so the magic element had to be thrown in. However, the magic show scenes are too boring, and the interplay between the characters is too dull to be a magic movie...so some heist element had to be thrown in. This was my general take it is neither one nor the other, nor good enough to be either.

The bright spots in the movie are Dave Franco and Mélanie Laurent (Shosanna from Inglourious Basterds), the only two actors given real characters and a chance to turn in decent performances. Everyone else plays a smug version of themselves.

Any specific complaint about the movie would include spoilers, so here are some surface-level observations:

Acting mediocre, with hints of terrible by Mark Ruffalo.

Plot much more convenient than clever, with "magic" used to explain away impossible plot points.

Dialog snarky and witty (excluding Ruffalo's character), but so much so that there are no real characters, just one-liner automatons.

Plot twists there are no real plot twists...if you think "what is the most ridiculous thing that can happen in this situation," that is exactly what will happen.

The ending I almost threw up in my empty pop-corn box. Saccharine doesn't come close to describing it.