Now You See Me sees a group of four different magicians, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Hanley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), brought together by an anonymous hooded figure in order to stage performances where they appear to magically pull major bank heists and then give the audience the money. They are stage managed by Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine), trying to be debunked by Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) and being chased by a duo consisting of FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol representative Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). You may have guessed that this isn't a detailed character piece.
Right from the outset this movie is, well, silly. Everything is played as big as possible, as fast as possible and as busy as possible. Terrible for any sense of believability or character development, but great for making sure you don't notice.
The main players certainly do a good job with their roles. You can tell that they are enjoying themselves and no one takes their part too seriously which is a big plus for this movie. As the action cuts from one group to another the actors make sure they get the most out of their parts.
As this is a movie at least partially about magic there is much discussion about misdirection and the phrase "the closer you look, the less you see" is used constantly throughout proceedings. It is apparent that they wanted to apply this to the movie itself but it seems the makers were worried people might miss subtle hints and red herrings so we end up with a very ham fisted version. The movie is continually going look at this, but what about that, hey can we really trust her or him or them, well these are the good guys or are they, etc. The plot twists come thick and fast and this helps the final big reveal to carry some weight even after it is virtually shouted from the rooftops in the lead up.
Where Now You See Me shines is it's ability to have all of the above problems but still be a straight up, highly enjoyable romp. It lays its cards on the table very early on and it is safe to say that those who enjoy the opening character montages (Woody Harrelson's being the highlight) can expect to have a good, if very silly, time.
I have decided to scrap the "in a word" finale and build on something I used in my World War Z review...
Alternative title - "Now You See Me/That/Him/Her/Them/This/The Other Thing Over There"
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