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By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
What do you get when you cross an “Ocean’s Eleven” type of plot with a group of magicians? The same thing that’s already been shown the previous two times. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is the third film of this series, but the first one in almost 10 years. If you thought they might learn some new and exciting tricks over that time span, then think again.
The legendary magician J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is reunited with his fellow Horsemen, Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), after a long hiatus to right some wrongs once again. This time, they’re tasked with taking down an evil diamond heiress named Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike) by pulling off the heist of her most prized possession, the heart diamond. The Horsemen are assisted by some younger magicians like Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa), and June (Ariana Greenblatt), along with some familiar faces of the past to pull off this wild mission.
Ruben Fleischer is now the third different director over as many movies to attempt and fail to get this concept right. He may have done well finding the right balance of comedy and action in his two “Zombieland” films, but he simply pumps out another formulaic crime thriller that’s been done ad nauseam. In fact, viewers don’t have to be avid filmgoers to know exactly how the story will play out just from watching the trailer. This tiresome level of predictability eliminates any surprise value when the “big reveals” are produced. The only positive aspect of this transparency is the told-you-so gratification viewers can lord over their unfortunate companions they bring to the theater.
The other major issue that plagues this film, which actually plagues many sequels, is Fleischer’s attempt to widen the scale of production. Making things bigger rarely makes things better. He practically doubles the cast, bringing in way too many magician characters that makes it impossible to develop them all. Aren’t there only supposed to be four horsemen, not ten? Without any kind of meaningful depth, this dilutes the storyline to the point of ambivalence. In addition, Fleischer uses these elaborate magical tricks to cover up glaring plot holes, creating scenes for the sole purpose of showing off more magic, regardless of common sense and realism. The scene that involves the mansion of trickery is one such scene as the magicians all split up into different rooms as they get chased by police only to end up going to the same secret tunnel.
While the cast sports a lot of talent, there’s simply too many, each vying for their own screentime, unable to provide anything outside the pedestrian level script. Think of it like a superhero movie, except their superpowers are rather underwhelming. Dave Franco’s power is to deliver painful paper cuts throwing playing cards at inhuman velocities. Woody Harrelson is able to read people’s body language and obvious facial expressions to uncover the truth. Jesse Eisenberg has the power to verbally condescend anyone and everyone. Rosamund Pike plays the antagonist, demonstrating her evilness by making one of her subordinates hold a diamond in his mouth for about a minute. As viewers can see, these weak characters make it impossible for the actors to shine.
The first two movies of this series emitted no magic of their own, so it’s not surprising that magic is not present in this third film. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is a gimmicky illusion you’ll be able to see right through and should have remained hidden from public consumption. It is generic, it is frivolous, it is unsatisfying, and ultimately unentertaining.
This movie earns:
