In Review: "Now You See Me"

In Review: "Now You See Me"

"Look closely, because the closer you think you are, the less you will actually see."

This quote from the film describes exactly what the movie does to you. It does just what a great magic show can do- shows you something and convinces you that you know what is going to happen, and then completely surprises you. Great magic is used for wonder and amazement, but always keeps you guessing. How did he do that? This movie does the same thing- not just with its visual magic and CGI spectacles but with its plot twists and surprises.

The Plot

Four struggling street magicians are called to an abandoned apartment in New York City. We have the hermit- Merritt McKinney (Woody Herrleson), a hypnotist and mind reader whose only job opportunity is exposing cheating husbands for cash; the high priestess- Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), a magician's assistant turned one-woman show complete with piranhas; the lover- J. Daniels Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), a magic card specialist and women charmer; and death- Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), a conman of all con men who uses his talent of bending spoons in front of tourists to scrape by. The four are brought together and call themselves, The Four Horsemen.

They become famous enough for Vegas with the help of their benefactor Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). They perform a trick where it looks like they have robbed a bank and given the money to the audience. The FBI is all over that. Magic non-believer Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is put in charge of the case along with Interpol agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). Along the way they meet a professional magician-exposer Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman).

So did they rob the bank? What is this grand final trick they keep talking about? Will the police be able to expose the magic?

The Cast

There is a stellar cast here. Morgan Freeman in almost any movie is guaranteed to be a blockbuster. No one did a bad job acting. Let's face it, they are all legends. But there was really only one performance that stuck with me. 

I have not really liked Jesse Eisenberg until this movie. I hated, hated "The Social Network" (The Facebook Movie) where he played snotty, self-absorbed Mark Zuckerberg. "Zombieland" is hysterical but not because of his awkward character. I was starting to think he could only play socially awkward nerds. But in this movie, he blossomed into a hunky, charming, suave con man. And he could con me all he wanted. His witty banter between any one of the characters had me thoroughly entertained.

The Message

You know how when you are a kid and you still believe in all that magical stuff? The Easter Bunny? The Tooth Fairy? Magic? This movie takes you back to that time and tells you the magic isn't over when you grow up. It actually gets way cooler. This movie made me want to go to a magic show so bad.

Overall

This movie was very enjoyable. The message was clearly presented, the acting was great, the script was funny, and the plot was fantastically elaborate yet simple enough to follow when watching the first time. I just got a little bored in the middle. The thing about a magic show is they are always doing the next best trick so you have to try to figure out how that one was done and then the one after that. Until you are simply content to being amazed. Well, my brain doesn't work that way. I got very tired of waiting to see the next best thing and straining my brain to figure out how they did that trick.

But by the end of the movie, I didn't care. I was able to completely forget about the fact that I was once confused and a little frustrated by this film. The ending makes this movie.

3.5 out of 4 Magic Playing Cards

Audience Participation: Like I have mentioned, I have this blog because I like to talk about movies, and to talk to people about movies. So once you see this film (which I highly encourage you do), post your answer/comment to my question below. For those of you who haven't seen it, DON'T READ THE POSTS, SEE THE MOVIE FIRST:

Explain the meaning behind each of the four horsemen's playing cards and aliases from the beginning.