Throwback Thursday Review: 'Now You See Me'

This week I will be reviewing Now You See Me to coincide with the release of it's sequel this weekend. I recall being surprisingly blown away by the film as I went in with somewhat tempered low expectations based on the mediocre marketing put forth for the film and came out really enjoying it. This weekend there are three wide releases like last weekend and I anticipate at least reviewing Warcraft and Now You See Me 2 within the next week or so. I did end up seeing Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping yesterday and found it to be funny but not worth reviewing, I had a similar case with Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising as typically I don't think there's enough elements to discuss in comedies. The remaining Throwback Thursday Reviews I have planned for June include Finding Nemo, Independence Day, Tarzan, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial to correlate with the releases of Finding Dory, Independence Day: Resurgence, The Legend of Tarzan, and The BFG.

'Now You See Me' Review

Now You See Me can best be described as a mystery crime thriller that finds four illusionists called the Four Horseman (not to be confused with Apocalypse's Horseman found in X-Men: Apocalypse) performing a series of bank heists as acts of their stage show and the FBI's pursuit of the aforementioned magicians.

Louis Leterrier directs the sleight of hand heist flick and cultivates a quirky energy thanks to the awe and wonder commonly found with magic tricks that succeeds in maintaining audience interest, especially on the first viewing as there's a plethora of unpredictable twists and turns. Speaking of magic, there's plenty to be found behind the scenes with a riveting screenplay written by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, and Edward Ricourt that caught me off guard with it's clever reveals that explain the logic and reasoning behind each of the film's big twists.

The cinematography looks great throughout with some gorgeous shots to be found in the two hour magic trick heist bonanza and Now You See Me also boasts big splendorous visuals due to the nature of magic created both practically and through CGI. While Now You See Me's action sequences aren't particularly memorable, it relishes in plot. The film entices the viewer with seemingly meaningless cheap tricks that turn out to be more vital with additional inspection that the film purposely downplays to outsmart the viewer.

Additionally, the film's cast brings quite a bit of energetic charisma to the table and there's no weak link to be found. Jesse Eisenberg seemingly leads the pack of Four Horseman as the cocky yet charming illusionist, J. Daniel Atlas with washed up hypnotist Merritt McKinney played by Woody Harrelson, former assistant turned solo act Henley Reeves brought by Isla Fisher, and sleight of hand pickpocket Jack Wilder portrayed by Dave Franco.

The four illusionists carried such great chemistry amongst their group that serviced the plot and made the mind games all the more fun, but these characters unfortunately weren't fully realized beyond their one note personalities. Not to say the performances were any less enjoyable, as all four actors give likable turns as the delinquent magicians.

Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent made for interesting protagonists as FBI investigator Dylan Rhodes and French Interpol agent Alma Dray and the two paired well off one another bringing out the best in the other's performance. Ruffalo and Laurent's characters' unique relationship allowed for some insightful verbal exchanges diving into their respective characters.

It was also nice to see seasoned actors in the cast with Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both bringing great supporting performances as the stately elder gentlemen that are surprisingly quite integral to the plot.

In conclusion, Now You See Me makes for one of the more charming original summer blockbusters in recent years and actually held up quite nicely to repetitive viewing despite it's reliance on surprise for awe and wonder. To sum it up, Now You See Me is a fun mind game with lots of twists and turns, great visuals, and an all star cast that does however have some story weaknesses but these ultimately don't detract from the entertainment provided.

Film Assessment: B-