Now You See Me | 2013 | Louis Leterrier | Summit Entertainment | May 31, 2013
Four magicians are summoned together by an unknown figure to pull off some terrifically large heists; complete with blueprints. A year later, they end up playing shows sponsored by Arthur Tressler (Caine) in Las Vegas as The Four Horsemen. Introduced in a fast-paced montage, we have the rude, quick-talking hustler Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg); the charismatic but strange mentalist Merritt Osborne (Harrelson); the gorgeous escape artist Henley Reeves (Fisher), and the street-savvy thief Jack Wilder (Franco).
At these shows, they perform a series of heists and are investigated by FBI Agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) and Interpol Agent Alma Vargas (Laurent), with the help of ex-magician and debunker of magic Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman). At the first show in Vegas, The Four Horsemen appear to teleport a randomly selected audience member to a Paris bank and shower the audience with 3.2 million Euros. This draws the ire of Rhodes and curiosity of Vargas & Bradley.
The film follows the three of them as they track the Horsemen throughout the rest of their heists, albeit while always being a step or two behind. Along the way, there are multiple levels of deception employed by the Horsemen from hypnotizing audience members and law enforcement to fooling Rhodes, Laurent & Bradley several times by leaving clues to lead them on a false trail. This theme is best summed up by Atlas’ statement early in the film that “The closer you look, the less you see,” with the point being that as you narrow your focus, you become incapable of seeing the larger picture.
Now You See Me features excellent cinematography with its fast-moving action scenes and dazzling visuals. The cast works well together and the dialogue never feels stale or forced. However, not everything about the film is great. Specifically, it leaves a few plot lines unfinished. There is no grand explanation of for whom the unknown summoner works. It remains unclear who the “good guys” and “bad guys” are; as either of the main character groups could be seen as the rightful protagonists. The film’s message is also not sufficiently revealed, as the ending doesn’t make a statement regarding social justice or anything along those lines.
On the whole, the film is enjoyable. It features a superb cast, excellent visuals, good writing and a relatively fresh plot, considering the subject matter being magic. Leterrier did a great job combining aspects of the heist and illusionist genres; keeping both influences feeling fresh with action scenes based more on quick physical combat and magic tricks as opposed to firearms and the illusions being based around heists.
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