Now You See Me: now you wish you did not
In today’s landscape of new movies, it is not uncommon to find another mediocre revival of a classic 2000s film, and “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is exactly that. This is the third installment of a series that follows four magicians, referred to as the Four Horsemen, who perform elaborate heists at each of their shows, while rewarding their audience with the stolen money.
The most recent movie introduces three new illusionists: Bosco LeRoy, played by Dominic Sessa, June Rouclere, played by Ariana Greenblatt and Charlie Vanderberg, played by Justice Smith. The film follows the three new magicians as they partner with the Horsemen to expose the corrupt mining practices of Veronika Vanderberg’s, played by Rosemund Pike, diamond company.
I actually enjoyed the dialogue between the magicians in the film. It felt very natural, especially when watching the funny banter between the younger and older characters. One of my favorite lines comes in the beginning, where J. Daniel Atlas, one of the original horsemen who is played by Jesse Eisenberg, is looking at a map with Bosco, who then says, “Look, it’s your dad.” Moments like these made this film incredibly fun to watch, however, they were few and far between.
The plot was outlandish, which is to be expected. It kept similar themes of the previous stories, the main one being the thin line between justice and revenge. In the movie, the magicians are seen as almost modern-day vigilantes, as they redistribute wealth stolen from rich corporations. However, Charlie Vanderberg’s personal vendettas against his long-lost half sister, Veronika, seem to be prevalent in his motivations in the entirety of the heist. I think that this added some needed emotional depth to the film.
Ariana Greenblatt’s performance stood out like a sore thumb. Although her banter with Jack Wilder, played by Dave Franco, added some charm, that was all thanks to the dialogue, not her acting skills. At some points, I wondered about the significance of her character at all, considering she had barely any lines and seemed to contribute nothing to the plot.
The typical magic used in the past movies was replaced with fantastical visual illusions and escape techniques, which were interesting to see on-screen. However, this movie’s greatest trick is that it evaporates from your mind as soon as the credits roll.
The end of the film was the one thing I dreaded: a setup for a fourth movie. Although “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is a fun and nostalgic trilogy, it should be left as one, and with this movie’s plot, I can only assume that the next one will be just as unoriginal.
