Now You See Me

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Now You See Me.

Directed by Louis Leterrier.

Written by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin & Edward Ricourt.

Screen Story by Boaz Yakin & Edward Ricourt.

Review #215

MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content.

Run Time: 115 min

Trailer: Courtesy of Apple's Trailer Page

Cast

Jesse Eisenberg...J. Daniel Atlas

Mark Ruffalo...Dylan Rhodes

Woody Harrelson...Merritt McKinney

Isla Fisher...Henley Reeves

Dave Franco...Jack Wilder

Mélanie Laurent...Alma Dray

Morgan Freeman...Thaddeus Bradley

Michael Caine...Arthur Tressler

Michael Kelly...Agent Fuller (as Michael J. Kelly)

Common...Evans

Why is magic so much fun?

We all know it's fake, it's designed to make us all look and feel stupid yet we can't stop watching. Even you magic haters out there. You must have a shred of wonder of how these people do what they do. I love magic because it's flat out entertaining. That's the point. The magician's ability to misdirect and mystify is a skill that takes years to master. It's a dedication to a craft that's forever changing due to it's long standing bout with staleness and lack of originality.

Why is this important for this review?

Quite simply, the movie biz is also dealing with the same issue of originality and staleness. This goes double for films that employ magic in them. Films like The Prestige, The Illusionist and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone to name a few have had to deal with a subject matter that's been done before live on stage so the approach has to be fresh to present on screen. The Prestige and The Illusionist went the serious drama route while The Incredible Burt Wonderstone went for the laughs. Now You See Me went a much different way and for reasons I still can't explain.

It worked.

Plot

An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. 

Since Tinseltown already did drama and comedy with magic films. The next logical step is to go the heist route. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Who better to pull off robberies than people who's sole profession and expertise involves trickery and manipulation. Now You See Me does this in every way and then some. This could have been a huge drawback for me but the film saves itself by doing something a lot of films fail to do.

What I mean is since the film is based in the world of magic, the use of misdirection and twists is a necessity to drive the story. This film has so many that it's easy to get a bit lost which is the last thing a film like this needs to happen to it's audience. Then it does the right thing by first bringing you back to the twist then showing you the solution. In a nutshell they show you the magic trick then show you how it was done. Normally that's a killer in the magic world but in the film world it helps immensely. A lot of films with this kind of plot device don't do that. Instead they leave things unresolved or partially execute the resolution which in most cases is worse than no resolution at all. Now You See Me does a good job of balancing the twist with it's reveal. It's sophisticated enough to play with your mind yet simple enough to understand once the secret is revealed.

The film does a pretty good job with presenting the magic tricks even though they are all the same. The thing that makes this different is the fact that Now You See Me is in reality an action film at heart. There are quite a few chases and fight scenes that ramp up the intensity of the story. These scenes do the exact opposite of their intention. In an action film, the scenes that precede and follow said action scene are used to get the audience going and give them a chance to recover respectively. In this film, the action scenes are employed to give us a break from the magic and investigation scenes that take place. It was a cute twist (no pun intended) to the action movie formula.

Of course, what would a heist film with magicians be without a final abracadabra finale. This film is no different. In fact the end of this film would on any other occasion send me into a hulk smash rage. Why? Because of the cheap reveal. The last 10 minutes give us the final behind the curtain moment and as it's playing out it feels so shabby. However, like I said in the beginning, it worked here. Mostly for two reasons. One, the film provides reasonable solutions to all of the mysteries they give us. Secondly, Now You See Me doesn't take itself seriously. The film plays exactly how it was made. It's a simple, fun, action film full of the same devices that the magic world is known for. This film is by no means perfect. If you're looking for perfection here then you were better off taking the money you paid for your ticket and setting it on fire. If you're in the mood for an entertaining ride then check this out one.

On the 5 star scale. Now You See Me gets 3 stars with a "Go See It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"