Now You See Me is a so what movie on a grand scale that tries to transcend this unbreachable barrier through the sheer size and the audacity of its prestidigitation. The movie directed by Louis Leterrier ( Clash of the Titans The Incredible Hulk ) from a screenplay by Ed Solomon Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt follows the adventures of a high flying magicians supergroup. Calling themselves the Four Horsemen they strut to the stage like Olympic athletes prepared to execute feats worthy of science fiction which they pull off without missing a beat but with a lot of help from computer generated effects.
Their leader J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is an arrogant fast talking cardsharp and sleight of hand virtuoso. His motto the closer you look the less you see. The equally devious Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) a mentalist with a streak of cruelty specializes in hypnosis. Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) is a pickpocket and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) is an escape artist who in her big number is chained and dropped into a tank filled with piranhas.
The screenplay primes us to expect a Robin Hood like heist fable in which the Four Horsemen steal money from big banks and rain it down on the struggling masses. In their initial stunt in Las Vegas a member of the audience is teleported to a Parisian bank vault whose cash is magically showered on the cheering Las Vegas audience in a matter of seconds. Although the movie slows just enough to describe the mechanics of the robbery the more detailed the explanation the more implausible it sounds.
Up to this point Now You See Me is an enjoyable goof that in its giddy way evokes a world propelled by technological wizardry enabling those who are clever enough to steal from everybody else.
But the scatterbrained story loses its thread and becomes a dull frenetic chase movie in which the Four Horsemen repeatedly make fools of their pursuers Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) an F.B.I. agent and Alma Dray (M lanie Laurent) an Interpol detective. As he sees his schemes repeatedly backfire Mr. Ruffalo s rumpled character resembles a modern day Columbo. But unlike Columbo he has a short temper.
Also on hand are Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) whose life is dedicated to debunking the fakery in high end magic and who plays mind games with the Four Horsemen and Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) the group s rich supercilious sponsor. There is no particular reason for these characters to exist except for the actors star power. Their personalities lend a little flavor to a movie that doesn t develop any of its characters. At a certain point Mr. Caine simply disappears from the film without a trace.
The chase carries the Four Horsemen from Las Vegas to New Orleans and to New York for their grand finale. The prelude to the group s farewell performance is an elaborately staged overlong meaningless car crash on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. Long before the story culminates with a preposterous final revelation whatever hopes you had that Now You See Me might have had anything to say about the profession of magic rampant greed or anything else have been dashed.
Now You See Me is rated PG 13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Mild language and mild sexual content.
Now You See Me
Opens on Friday nationwide.
Directed by Louis Leterrier written by Ed Solomon Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt based on a story by Mr. Yakin and Mr. Ricourt directors of photography Larry Fong and Mitchell Amundsen edited by Robert Leighton and Vincent Tabaillon music by Brian Tyler production design by Peter Wenham costumes by Jenny Eagan senior visual effects supervisor Nicholas Brooks produced by Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci and Bobby Cohen released by Summit Entertainment. Running time 1 hour 56 minutes.
WITH Jesse Eisenberg (J. Daniel Atlas) Mark Ruffalo (Dylan Rhodes) Woody Harrelson (Merritt McKinney) M lanie Laurent (Alma Dray) Isla Fisher (Henley Reeves) Dave Franco (Jack Wilder) Common (Evans) Jos Garcia (Etienne Forcier) Michael Caine (Arthur Tressler) and Morgan Freeman (Thaddeus Bradley).
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