The original Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, Clash Of The Titans) and released in 2013, was a pleasant surprise. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffolo and Morgan Freeman, the "Four Horsemen" of Las Vegas magicians from the original film became one of Lionsgate Entertainment's most successful features, delighting audiences with a smart, confidently-executed mixture of fantasy and heist movie.
Now You See Me 2, returning under a new director (Jon M. Chu, who previously directed G.I. Joe Retaliation and a couple of Step Up movies), positively emanates the studio's new-found confidence, featuring even more screen time between the Horsemen and even bigger, more elaborate tricks. The fact that the film is beginning to veer ever-closer to superhero-film territory could be both good or bad for different people, but those who enjoyed the characters and premise of the original will find a lot to love here, even if things become rather predictable towards the end.
Taking place a little over a year after the first film's ending, Now You See Me 2 begins with a sleek CGI exposition sequence that goes over the events of the first film. After successfully robbing crooked insurance magnate Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) and giving away his money, the Horsemen have now gone into hiding, preparing for a mysterious "next trick" on the orders of the mysterious Eye, a secret society of vigilante magicians.
After a heist gone wrong, the four Horsemen (minus Isla Fisher's character, replaced by newcomer Lizzy Caplan's Lula) find themselves transported to China, where they are coerced by unstable millionaire playboy Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe) to use their varied talents to steal a special computer chip capable of breaking into any electronic device on the planet.
Much like the first film, the plot isn't anything special, serving more as an excuse to bring our beloved Horsemen together and provide them with things to banter about. Perhaps the producers themselves were aware of this, as this second film features even more screen time spent between the Horsemen and their ever-amusing back-and-forth. That's not to say that the plot is bad, it just feels largely unnecessary, sort of just sitting in the background while we enjoy the Horsemen's conversation. There are enough twists and turns (and misdirections) in the plot to keep things moving forward at an appropriately clipped pace, until we realise that the film starts recycling the first film's final act to the beat.
Jesse Eisenberg's Daniel Atlas reminds us what we love most about the actor, especially after his questionable performance in Batman v Superman; here he brings the awkward confidence similar to his performance in The Social Network. Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco both return to their roles as the swaggering hypnotist and rookie card-slinger respectively, enjoying a healthy chemistry with each other, with Harrelson also doubling as his Horsemen character's scene-stealing twin brother. Lizzy Caplan's Lula is also a delight, with the actress' character balancing the right amount of bubbly silliness and dark humour to provide a constant stream of jokes and banter with the rest of the team.
In terms of the magic effects, Now You See Me 2's tricks are even more breathtaking, with standouts like the Horsemen's card-passing (one of the cleverest scenes I've watched in a film in recent memory), or Dylan Rhodes' (Mark Ruffolo) fight scene in a Macau market, using magic tricks and martial arts alike to fight off Marbry's goons. Much like the first film, however, many of the tricks seem to be based on CGI effects rather than real misdirection or sleight-of-hand on the parts of the actors/actresses. This works to make the tricks seem larger than life, but also a little cheap at times, like Atlas' rain-stopping trick, which would have been impressive if it were a real trick as opposed to CGI. Still, with Lionsgate already working on Now You See Me 3, you can expect to see much more of this franchise as it tries to become the next Fast And Furious, but with doves, bunnies and playing cards instead of cars.
Now You See Me 2
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan.
Directed by Jon M. Chu.
