Magic and the big screen are just made for each other. With a large budget, the director must salivate at crafting obnoxious sleight of hand with characters that are innately captivating. The first Now You See Me was magnetic and fun…as long as you didn’t think too hard about the plot. Now You See Me 2 turns the audience back into a 5 year old saying “Wow! Show me that again!”
After Robin-Hooding a millionaire in the first film, the remaining 3 Horsemen: Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt (Woody Harrelson), and Wilder (Dave Franco) go into hiding, waiting for a new assignment from The Eye via cop-infiltrator Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo). After onboarding newcomer Lula (Lizzy Caplan) as the 4th Horsemen, the group resurfaces and lands in the clutches of “dead” billionaire Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who uses them to get decryption hardware via death threats. Rhodes, separated from the group, enlists the help of the man he put in prison, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), and a magic shop owner (Jay Chou) to find his friends and confidants before it’s too late.
Now You See Me 2 is the definition of a popcorn movie: it is pure, fizzy fun in the moment that may leave you a tad unsatisfied as you think about your meal. Like the first, some of the twists are preposterous (how can all 4 Horsemen be amazing at card tricks?!!), and the big twist at the end is so cryptically delivered it is near impossible to follow (as well as the non-magic action sequences). But at that point it doesn’t matter, because of the spectacle. The tricks these guys set up are staged very impressively by director John Chu, and are easily the highlight of Now You See Me 2. The lighting and audience help amplify the setting, giving real suspense and wonder to each trick, in particular one set in the rain (I really did ask how they did that to people in the theater!). When these scenes deliver, it makes you overlook the twisty twists and just sit back in awe and let these magicians position your head correctly.
It also helps to have an intimidating radiant cast. The 4 horsemen are a treat as they bounce off each other. Caplan is having a blast as the newcomer, clearly embracing the girl role self awaredly, awkwardly throwing herself into the other 3, particularly Franco. And I could go to the Eisenberg/Harrelson well over and over again, with Harrelson’s laid backishness humorously clashing everytime with Eisenberg’s neuroticism. Ed Solomon’s script also creates little relationships within the horsemen to give the dynamic a different tenor depending on who is around. Conversely, Daniel Radcliffe is awesome playing an unhinged superfan with SEVERE daddy (Michael Caine) issues and injects a needed dose of bad guy to the Now You See Me world. Ruffalo and Freeman carry the dramatic weight admirably, and even get in some decent jokes along the way. Even in the downtimes, you’ll find yourself laughing along with these lovable tricksters, keeping you futher distracted from the irrational.
As I remember Now You See Me fondly, so I will with the sequel. The formula of magicians helping take from the rich and give to the poor keeps the pretension away, and hiring great actors to country jump and wisecrack should easily draw people to the theater. Plus, in general, Woddy Harrelson should be playing twins all the time. That guy is too good to be only confined to one body.