Now You See Me
Director: Louis Leterrier
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine
Rating: (M)
4 stars (out of 5)
We talk about movie magic and that is why magic on film is not that magical.
We know that is just another special effect tweaked in the computer lab after shooting is finished.
Now You See Me (Rialto and Hoyts) outsmarts us by never particularly trying to be believable. Instead it promises a fun ride and delivers.
We start with four low-level magicians who get a lucky break. Or do they?
Invited to join a fabled magic society straight out of the pages of a Dan Brown novel, all they have to do is pull off the immaculate magical game of cat and mouse that they are given the blueprints to.
J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) become the headline act the Four Horsemen and to their audiences' delight they steal using magic and give the money to the punters.
While it may be popular, the FBI is not impressed and soon seemingly clueless G man Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is trailing them trying to work out how they are doing it.
None of it stands up to much scrutiny so the film merrily misdirects us at every opportunity, keeping the trick going to the very end.
Best thing: Actually all the magic tricks are great fun.
Worst thing: I am a fan of his but Mark Ruffalo is the one dud note. His performance as the hard-nosed FBI agent seems to belong to another movie.
See it with: A rabbit up your sleeve and the queen of diamonds tucked in your waistband.
