However, this mystery proves difficult to solve even with the insights of the professional illusion exposer, Thaddeus Bradley. I felt like the director was content to dazzle us with action and effects and to take our money while demanding our total credulity on the plot points, using the angle provided by magic in a rather disingenuous way. Leterrier and company are constantly trying to balance the breakneck pace with the large cast of characters, and it just leaves the characters hanging out to dry. In my mind 3 people stuck out. What follows is a bizarre investigation where nothing is what it seems with illusions, dark secrets and hidden agendas galore as all involved are reminded of a great truth in this puzzle: the closer you look, the less you see. What a travesty to the promising themes of magic and old rivalries, treated so well in other recent films.
I focus on the twists and reveal because as a heist movie, the end is the big reveal. All the best parts of this film are well-packaged and sold in the gripping theatrical trailer. This film tries to be a lot more intelligent than it actually is. However, the script often falters in one of the most crucial areas, that of character. When it comes to summer movies, this is about as good as it gets. I went out for entertainment and leisure and in good company and high spirits, not at all for the purpose of writing a critical review. The twists and reversals weren't just surprising, they were completely unbelievable.
Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson stealing the show, of course, with Dave Franco doing a bang up job with some incredible physical acting, stunts and so forth. . A year later, they are the Four Horsemen, big time stage illusionists who climax their sold out Las Vegas show with a bank apparently robbed for real. Spoler Alert: Stop reading here if you would like to watch this movie without knowing anything about the late scenes, reveals, and reversals!!! While most of the major twists can be found out before revealed, there is still a joy in watching those twists unfold, thanks to Leterrier's Sherlock Holmes' style of visual deduction. It makes you want to go back and see it twice to understand it better, and just like all magic tricks, some of it can't be explained and you are left with no answer but to believe that what you saw was true. The timing is of course worked out impeccably, and it's carried out with no other fatalities on the bridge.
Overall I was surprised at how good the story was. I enjoy magic and I could watch Morgan Freeman or Michael Caine in almost anything now proved. The acting was great overall and I really liked the characters. Synopsis Four magicians each answer a mysterious summons to an obscure address with secrets inside. Oh, and it has quite dazzling action sequences. But, unlike Oceans Eleven, for example, it has more or less handed it to you on a plate already.
Description Four magicians each answer a mysterious summons to an obscure address with secrets inside. We got to the movies to be entertained and lose ourselves for 2 hours for a price of an admission ticket. I'm not impossible to please at the movies and I actively wanted this to be a good time. You'd expect suspense, twists, intelligent plot misdirection and all sorts of thrilling viewing? This is one of those movies that is somewhat entertaining upon first viewing but is easily forgettable and has nothing of substance to make a second viewing possible to enjoy. Yet it's just one more miracle that the Horsemen carry out with aplomb, at a frenetic pace and on-the-fly, with less than half-a-dozen total team members, empowered by an unlimited budget and a mystery benefactor. A year later, they are the Four Horseman, big time stage illusionists who climax their sold out Las Vegas show with a bank apparently robbed for real. And somehow the magicians have stuffed a replacement body from the morgue into an identical car just before turning it into a time-bomb.
It's unfortunate that in the filmmaker's attempts to be clever they neglected the most fundamental elements of storytelling: plot and character. All the while, apparently real traffic zooms along with presumably untrained and unprepared public going about normal business. I'm afraid Jesse Eisenberg didn't convince in his character and was annoying after a while, Franco rather underutilised really. I think Hollywood endings are just too commonplace. Like a magic show without magic, you may find yourself somewhat entertained but inevitably wind up disappointed in the end because they left out the most important part of the show.
However, this mystery proves difficult to solve even with the insights of the professional illusion exposer, Thaddeus Bradley. Bottom line, if you're a fan of the heist genre, you'll like this movie. And the plot problems go much deeper than buying into death-defying scenes that require an elimination of anything random in a busy public space. While Now You See Me may not be a grand slam, it's still entertaining, thanks to the thrills and visual style of the film. I give Now You See Me an 8 out of 10! As well, if you want a film with twists and turns, this one will not disappoint. The total impression is of a promising film idea that fell on its own very expensive sword.
The film was so much more enjoyable than I thought it would be from watching the trailers. And it looks like the final edit came after the director and all concerned were out of steam and over budget. The way he is planted in relation to earlier events seems like an afterthought. If you have any legal issues please contact the appropriate media file owners or host sites. Mark ruffalo, Morgan freeman, and woody harrelson. Flashy, loud with bells and whistles and big personalities, an exciting premise. What follows is a bizarre investigation where nothing is what it seems with illusions, dark secrets and hidden agendas galore as all involved are reminded of a great truth in this puzzle: the closer you look, the less you see.