I’ve always thought magic was a cool concept and was always watching magicians perform while growing up.
And while some of the uniqueness of magic faded when I learned about performances behind the scenes, every once in a while I still find myself getting caught up in the audience experience.
Take, for example, the “Now You See Me” franchise that highlights the intersection of magicians and Robin Hood antics with flair.
Overall, I liked the first film more than the second in that series, but the third brings it all together – or at least tries to tie up the loose ends between films.
Though the storyline for “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” seems a bit rushed in my opinion, I did enjoy the banter between the established magicians and the newly introduced copycat magicians.
It was also pretty awesome watching them plan their next tricks and how they achieved the results they were hoping for despite several obstacles.
And naturally, having the proverbial heroes triumph over the villains makes for a great movie in my book, too.
Now You Don’t is an American heist film directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie, the writing duo of Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on a story by Eric Warren Singer and Lesslie.
The film is the sequel to Now You See Me 2 (2016) and the third installment in the Now You See Me film series.
The cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Mark Ruffalo, and Morgan Freeman returning from previous films, and joined by new cast members Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Rosamund Pike.
The movie is 112 minutes long and rated PG-13 for some strong language, violence, and suggestive references.
Ten years after the original heist, a trio of young magicians - Charlie (Smith), Bosco Leroy (Sessa), and June McClure (Greenblatt) - stage a fake Four Horsemen magic show.
Their show uses deepfakes and holograms, where they drain the wallet of the corrupt owner of a cryptocurrency exchange and distribute the stolen funds among the attendees.
After the show, they are unexpectedly approached by original Horseman J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg).
He recruits them in a plot apparently given to him by The Eye, the secret magic society, via a tarot card: to steal “The Heart,” the largest diamond in the world.
The diamond is in the possession of Veronika Vanderberg (Pike), the head of a South African diamond company started by her father, a former Nazi who uses the business to launder money for criminals.
Soon after, Veronika receives a call from an unknown man in a disguised voice, threatening to expose her company’s illegal activity in exchange for the diamond.
At a private party in Antwerp where the diamond is being exhibited and is set to be auctioned, Daniel and the three young magicians execute the heist through a combination of disguises, prop switching, and misdirection to seize the diamond from Veronika.
Her security and police fail to pursue them as the rest of the original Four Horsemen - Jack Wilder (Franco), Henley Reeves (Fisher), and Merritt McKinney (Harrelson) - arrive to assist them, explaining that they have also received messages on Tarot cards from The Eye.
Naturally, things get more complicated as more magicians have a hand in bringing Veronika to justice and yet there is a happy ending to the entire heist.
Plus, there is already a fourth installment in the works, so, I’m excited to see more magic on the silver screen.
