Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Lizzy Caplan, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman
Rating: (M)
★★★
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
With brief glimpses of delight that harken back to the charm of the original franchise, the few-and-far-between-ness of the enticement in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Rialto, Reading) is fatiguing, playing with the same bag of tricks to no audience astonishment.
Ten years since the Robin Hood magicians, the ‘Horsemen’, last flounced their talents, a new gen tribute crew is called to action by the ‘Eye’, a secret society of prestige magicians, to take down an evil diamond heiress. Arriving in the wake of the Horsemen, Bosco (Dominic Sessa), June (Ariana Greenblatt), and Charlie (Justice Smith) combine their sleight of hand skills to rob an evil crypto-scammer — a stylistic move by Ruben Fleischer that almost fools the audience into believing they were about to enter a sloppy, CGI, IP-fest — not that the film isn’t cheap in other ways.
The film’s tone shift from Ocean’s 11-esque magicians to quippy, narrative conveniences hits audiences like an anvil — an oversaturation of flippancy which draws the viewer away from connecting to the emotional stakes. It's unfortunately put upon the new crew to saddle this burden. Justice Smith is suffocated by cringe-worthy one-liners, Dominic Sessa’s irrational, insecure, and anti-social character is also dripping with sweat, and Ariana Greenblatt is kind of just there — not given any egregious tasks, but not really given anything.
It’s the return of the original four (five) Horsemen that is most successful. Returning to his most affectionate franchise, Eisenberg’s passion for movie magic is palpable — outlined by his willingness to spend more than a couple of days on set, unlike the limited screentime and phoned-in performances of his supporting cast. Inexplicably globetrotting for narrative’s sake, the expanded Horsemen crew bounce between diamond stealing in Antwerp, Morgan Freeman’s magic mansion, a very fun prison break scene which reintroduces Lizzy Caplan, and finally an extravagant party in Abu Dhabi.
This global adventure is driven by the world’s most expensive MacGuffin, Veronika Vanderberg’s (Rosamund Pike) "Heart Diamond". Pike’s South African-accented, "Bond villain" performance is delightful, genuinely hilarious and menacing at once. And although operating at her own tone, she owns the movie, and isn’t cursed to be a forgettable sequel antagonist.
