Now You See Me

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Now You See Me
Starring Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman
Directed by Louis Leterrier


A mysterious man invites four different types of magicians - Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg),  Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) - to join forces and become The Four Horsemen.  During a show in Las Vegas, they magically transport a man to a bank in Paris, where the money is taken and given to the audience.

Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) lives to debunk magic, and works with special agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) to find out how the magicians were able to rob a bank in Paris while being in Las Vegas.  That is only the beginning of the mystery, as the Four Horsemen continue their Robin Hood-esque style of magic, which at first seems unconnected to each other, but as the pieces begin to add up, there's more than meets the eye with these particular magicians, and the person responsible for bringing them all together.

Unfortunately it seems that magic is a dying genre in America.  People aren't as enthusiastic as they once were, with a lot of magic tricks being revealed and the desires of more modern technologies seem to suck the life out of the old antiquated profession.

"Now You See Me" brings back the old magic (heh) of the performance, bringing to life the inner child in each of us who at one time longed for the mysterious, baffled by the sights we beheld.  Where you see something and wonder, "how did they do that?" instead of "I'll just Google it."  The magic of the film is amazing, even though it's completely staged and not real, it's still an awe-inspiring sight.

The story itself is a complex ring of lies, deceit and deception - everything magic entails.  Slight of hand, misdirection, and illusions are portrayed throughout the film, and not just during the magic shows.  You need a keen eye to see what's happening, and what's not happening, to understand everything going on.  It's not a simplistic method, and I enjoyed that.  I don't like to be spoon-fed a plot, I like to try to figure it out on my own.

Also with such a top-notch cast, "Now You See Me" was a surprise hit of the summer, and it really shouldn't have been such a surprise.  Maybe this will help re-ignite the desire in all of us for the old-school style of shock and awe.  An amazing film throughout, an "Ocean's Eleven" with magic.

My Rating: A

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