Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Review – Absurd Third Sequel Is Nothing But An Illusion Of Entertainment

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The Horsemen are at it again, delivering their signature brand of over-the-top antics. Whether you’ll enjoy it really depends on your sense of humor – it’s either a delightfully silly return to form, or a film that will test the limits of your patience.

This movie is similar to Avengers: Endgame, but geared towards fans of magic and heist films. Expect elaborate, over-the-top set pieces – though the logic behind them is stretched pretty thin. While the original Now You See Me was known for its silly twist ending, this sequel takes things to a whole new level of implausibility, making the earlier films seem realistic in comparison.

Look, let’s be honest, this new installment could be a good time if you’re into that sort of over-the-top spectacle. And honestly, director Ruben Fleischer – the guy behind Venom and Zombieland – is a definite step up. He clearly knows how to blend laughs with action better than the previous directors. What’s interesting this time around is that the movie knows it’s silly. Rosamund Pike, playing the delightfully over-the-top villain, Veronika Vanderburg, even pokes fun at the ridiculous magic tricks. It doesn’t try to be a gritty, realistic thriller; it’s much more in the spirit of the campy, fun Batman series from the 60s, not the darker, more serious films we’ve seen lately.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Reveals Nothing Behind Its Smoke & Mirrors

Okay, so this movie really asks you to just go with it – there’s a lot of magic that happens and you have to completely turn off your brain to believe it! It’s been a decade since we last saw the Four Horsemen – J. Daniel Atlas, Merritt McKinney, Jack Wilder, and Henley Reeves – and they suddenly announce a one-night-only show in Bushwick. What follows is a series of incredible illusions and distractions where they basically steal a huge amount of cryptocurrency from someone in the audience and then give it all away to everyone else! It’s wild, but you just have to enjoy the ride.

It was all a clever trick. Three young, aspiring magicians – inspired by the legendary Four Horsemen and their heroic, Robin Hood-style adventures – had created an elaborate illusion, pretending to be the real deal. Charlie, a brilliant planner and architect (played by Justice Smith), Bosco, a master of disguise (Dominic Sessa), and June, a skilled locksmith (Ariana Greenblatt), believed they’d pulled off something amazing, until the actual Atlas unexpectedly appeared. The Eye, a strange and secretive spy organization that uses magic, had brought Atlas out of hiding to locate this new group and bring them to headquarters in Antwerp, Belgium.

Soon, Merritt, Jack, and Henley join the team, expanding it from four to seven members – or even eight, if you count Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman). There are even a few unexpected additions, bringing the total to ten. Similar to the Fast & Furious movies, this series keeps bringing back old enemies and turning them into allies. The team’s goal is to reveal Pike’s character, Vanderburg, as the descendant of a Nazi.

Despite a generally slow and visually flashy film, Pike delivers a truly energetic performance. Her character, essentially an even more outspoken version of Elon Musk, is surprisingly lovable. Harrelson is enjoyable, but most of the cast seems weighed down by the film’s overly commercial look and feel. In fact, the movie is packed with blatant product placement, featuring everything from Abu Dhabi tourism ads to an entire scene dedicated to promoting a specific soda.

Despite being a high-profile film made by major studios with famous actors, the franchise keeps using progressive language to promote itself. Vanderburg rightly criticizes the villains, calling them “entertainers pretending to fight against the system,” which is a fair assessment of both the characters and the filmmakers. The movie presents a simplistic view of class struggle, suggesting it can be won by a few talented individuals simply by embarrassing those in power. It’s essentially designed to make audiences feel good about themselves while they’re being entertained.

Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt wrote this film, and it’s clear they enjoy playing with the audience. The core story only lasts about half an hour of the almost two-hour movie; the rest is filled with complicated situations and misleading illusions. While visually appealing, the score by Brian Tyler is overly dramatic and often overshadows the scenes. The film’s relentlessly positive tone and style feel dated, firmly rooted in the time it was created.

The film relies heavily on making the audience feel silly, and ultimately misses the point of its own story. Despite being about magic, there’s no genuine wonder to be found. While many sequels trade on nostalgia, this one feels particularly insulting, as if it assumes viewers won’t notice how thin the plot is. There’s a moment early on where a character receives a call from ‘The Eye’ through a number simply listed as ‘2010’ – it’s meant as a playful nod, but it unintentionally highlights how dated and uninspired the film feels. It’s as if the movie itself is a relic from the past.

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2025-11-11 17:01