Now You See Me
Considering the cast (and to a lesser extent, the director), this had some real potential to be awesome.
And you know what? This film does mostly deliver.
It's a fun, breezy, and dazzling caper film about a group of magicians known as The Four Horsemen (even though one of them is a woman) who pull off a series of heists, but dress them up as magic acts. Hot on their tail in a game of cat and mouse are a determined FBI agent, a specialist from Interpol, and an ex-magician turned debunker, all of them with the shared goal of bringing the Horsemen down.
If you've seen a few movies about magicians, then you'll probably be able to see where some of this is going. There's plenty of twists and turns, but I wasn't able to guess all of them. That was part of the fun. Now, the film doesn't really hold up to much scrutiny, and it's probably not worth many repeat viewings, but it's a decent way to kill a couple of hours.
Where the film is lacking with character development, plotting and story, it more than makes up for it with stylish, flashy direction, tons of energy, and a top notch cast who all bring their A game. The Horsemen are played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco, and they have pretty good chemistry with one another, and seem to really be having a blast. Michael Caine is a financier for the group, the debunker is played by Morgan Freeman, and Mark Ruffalo and Melanie Laurent are the FBI and INTERPOL agents, respectively. Like I said, they all seem to care, and put some effort into this, and they really make the film worth seeing. Perhaps one of the best parts is a fight scene where Franco uses flash paper, playing cards, and sleight of hand techniques against Ruffalo and his cohorts. That's pretty funny and cool.
All in all, this is a better than average caper, and a pretty fun ride. It may not be airtight or intellectually stimulating, but I didn't feel duped by the time the end credits rolled.
