Bigger than Ben Hur when it comes to tricks on a grand scale, three of the original four magicians return for a second installment of hijinks and thrills. That about sums up Now You See Me 2, with Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco joined by Lizzy Caplan (who replaces Isla Fisher) to form the Horsemen. Their nemesis is played by Daniel Radcliffe.
One year after their astonishing, Robin Hood-style magic shows win the public’s adulation and confound the FBI, the quartet resurfaces for a dazzling comeback performance that will make their previous escapades seem like child’s play. With the help of FBI Special Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), the Horsemen – J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Franco) and Lula (Caplan) – mount a meticulously planned surprise appearance. They hope to expose corrupt tech tycoon Owen Case (Ben Lamb), but their scheme backfires, exposing Rhodes’ involvement with the Horsemen and sending all five of them back on the run.
Suddenly the stakes are ratcheted up and they need all the ruses in their considerable repertoire to outwit another wealthy tech magnate, Walter Mabry (Radcliffe). That is not to overlook the returning presence of Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) and professional skeptic Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who also have the Horsemen in their sights.
It was 2013 when the Four Horsemen, this almost supernaturally gifted group of professional illusionists, pulled off daring heists at the expense of a corrupt billionaire. That film – Now You See Me – grossed more than US$300 worldwide and claimed the People’s Choice Award for Favourite Movie Thriller. Now the sequel blurs the line between heroes and villains. This time the direction comes from Jon M. Chu (Louis Leterrier was the man at the helm of the first), whose previous credits include two chapters of the Step Up series and the 2013 concert film Justin Bieber’s Believe.
What I quite like about the series is that the group completes the most extraordinary illusions and then they later explain how they did it and that is worked seamlessly into the script. It is extremely pacey, moving from scene to scene faster than most other films, so if you tune out for a moment you can very easily lose the threads. Mind you, that hardly matters because you are in there for the sleight of hand. It also takes a while to work out who is doing what to whom and why … and then, of course, there are a number of red herrings introduced.
Lizzy Caplan fits in readily and quickly makes it clear that she doesn’t want or need any special treatment because she is just as talented and audacious as the rest of the Horsemen. I have had some difficulty adjusting to Daniel Radcliffe as a serious actor, or at least an actor without those round glasses as the fantasy boy hero Harry Potter, but he has fun here as the baddie. To me though the key illusionist and the man with a mastery of words, who can readily explain away his character’s modus operandi, is the suavely dressed Morgan Freeman. He is a sheer delight every time he is in the frame.
Jesse Eisenberg is the nervous nelly of the collective and Woody Harrelson plays both good guy and bad guy. Dave Franco is the card shark extraordinaire with the pretty boy looks and Mark Ruffalo appears burdened with the weight of the world on his shoulders, as his character still hasn’t gotten over the death of his father 30 years ago. The establishing sequence in the movie sets out those traumatic circumstances.
There is no doubt that Now You See Me 2 keeps you guessing because some of the subterfuge is mesmerising … and as I intimated that is the reason you go along and see a movie like this. Rated M, it scores a 7 to 7½ out of 10.
Director: Jon M. Chu
Cast: Mark Ruffalo, Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Morgan Freeman
Release Date: 2 June 2016
Rating: M – Violence
Alex First
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
