There are some movies that seem to get multiple sequels, and I am not quite sure why. There are three Equalizer movies for some reason. They’re fine, but I do wonder if those movies are really all that popular. Another such series is the Now You See Me movies, movies that I didn’t think were that popular (though I know at least one person who loves ’em as he is a sucker for all kinds of heist movies), but now, there’s a third one? And Isla Fisher is back after sitting out the second while there seems to be no sign of Mark Ruffalo anywhere?
To be fair, I’m not sure the cast is what draws people to these movies. And why did it take three of them to get to the most obvious subtitle?
It’s been ten years since the Four Horsemen have appeared in public and done their Robin Hood magic act, but they’re appearing in New York City. Or, more accurately, they are not as a trio of young magician/con artists are playing a con by making it look like the Horsemen are there. The three–impersonator Bosco (Dominic Sessa), acrobatic lockpick and pickpocket June (Ariana Greenblatt), and tech guy/magic nerd Charlie (Justice Smith)–have fooled a lot of people, but not original Horseman Danny Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), who reveals that the mysterious Eye has sent him on a mission to recruit Bosco, June, and Charlie to steal a valuable diamond from an international money launderer, Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike, doing some kind of weird accent).
However, the case takes a turn when, during the escape from the theft, Danny’s former partners Jack (Dave Franco), Henley (Fisher), and Merritt (Woody Harrelson) were all separately dispatched by the Eye to the same theft. But stealing the diamond was only step one. The rest of the mission would be bringing Vanderberg down permanently, and with seven magicians all pulling their tricks, it may be the only people who can defeat the Horsemen are the Horsemen themselves since they broke up ten years earlier for a reason.
As I said above, I don’t know that it matters much who actually appears in this movie. I can’t say I remembered any of the characters’ names before I sat down, and I will probably forget those names in a couple days anyway. It’s really about the actors themselves doing the sorts of characters they generally play. Can Jesse Eisenberg play a cocky motormouth? Of course he can. The reason to come to these movies is not for the character so much as the magic tricks and settings, like a magician’s mansion here were room rotate or play with forced perspective. Given the size of the cast and the fact that the studio has already greenlit a fourth one, it wouldn’t be too terrible if they had some of these actors turn up unavailable due to scheduling issues, the reason that Fisher sat out part two. But the movie does pull a couple nice surprises, the magic tricks are good, and the action scenes are fairly thrilling.
I mean, I didn’t go into this expecting a great movie, and it isn’t a great movie, but I did get a fun one. If anything, I am wondering why, of the two movies I went to the theaters to see last weekend, I found Now You See Me: Now You Don’t a more satisfying viewing experience than The Running Man. If you had told me that as late as last week, I would not have believed it. And yet, here I am. You just gotta get the endings right.
Grade: B
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