‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ is a magical experience

BY ASHTYN HANSARD

Digital Media Director

On Friday, Nov. 14, the third installment of the “Now You See Me” franchise, titled “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” released to theaters worldwide. As a major fan of the franchise, I immediately made plans with my brother for a trip to the movies.

Warning: There will be slight spoilers in this review.

To start off this review, I really want to discuss the characters, old and new, of this film and how they blended together perfectly to create a beautiful group.

First, let’s talk about the characters we already know. The Four Horsemen—Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco—all came back to the franchise to revive their characters J. Daniel Atlas, Henley Reeves, Merrit McKinney and Jack Wilder.

I loved getting to see these characters on screen again. They all played their characters perfectly. Their chemistry came right back while also portraying that time had passed for all of them. It was easy to tell that these actors love working together again on such a special film.

The original Four Horsemen weren’t the only original characters we got to see.

Morgan Freeman returned as Thaddeus Bradley, bringing wisdom and acting as a mentor for the Four Horsemen and others once again. Lizzy Caplan also reprised her role as Lula May, bringing comedy and heroics in just the right moments.

The audience also gets surprised with a cameo from another character at the end of the movie, although I won’t give that one away just yet.

While I love reminiscing on these characters I missed seeing together, I also want to shine a light on the new additions to the franchise.

The villain of the film is the character Veronika Vanderberg, played by Rosamund Pike. She easily plays the “rich villain” type, playing her character with just the right amount of secrecy and pretentiousness needed for this role.

There’s also new additions to the Four Horsemen, introducing Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Justice Smith as Bosco Leroy, June McClure and Charlie, respectively. They play a group of loners using magic and the original Four Horsemen’s faces to create justice of their own.

I really want to tip my hat to these guys. Although adding new main characters to a franchise during the third movie can always be risky, I think it worked beautifully. None of these characters are too cliché or over the top and blend perfectly into the rest of the cast while also standing out in their own ways.

Sessa plays the brooding yet charming type that is Bosco very well. While he can seem a little much at times, it’s never too much. He may seem independent at first, but we soon learn that he cares deeply, which is never a bad trait for a character to have. His quick wit also makes a nice comedic break when needed.

Similarly, Greenblatt is great as June. When there’s a group of boys with one girl in a movie, it’s always a risk of that being one of the girl’s only personality traits. Thankfully, Greenblatt instead made June her own character, using her wits and sleight of hand to make her stand out while not making it the only thing interesting about her.

There’s also a nice shoutout to the amount of female magicians in this movie between Henley, Lula and June. It’s refreshing to see considering the first two movies only had one female magician in each movie.

While I think Sessa and Greenblatt are amazing in this movie, I feel the need to give flowers to Smith specifically. His portrayal of Charlie is one of a kind, something I’m not sure many actors could have pulled off as well as he did. 

Charlie is a quiet yet brilliant character, helping set up the illusions while also being a major magic history nerd. The second I got a glimpse into his character, I knew he was going to be my favorite. He holds the group together at several moments and steals the spotlight during his scenes despite his character’s shyness.

I can go on about the actors all day, but I also want to make sure I talk about the visuals of the movie.

Portraying big illusions and magic tricks on camera can be tricky, but “Now You Don’t” pulls it off once again.

I’ll be the first to admit that some of the tricks portrayed in the movie seem a little far-fetched, but it’s still incredibly fun to watch regardless of the accuracy. I mean, who doesn’t love a fun scene with magic tricks?

One of my favorite moments of the movie is toward the halfway mark. The Four Horsemen, June, Bosco and Charlie are in a massive chateau with Thaddeus. After some questioning from Atlas, Bosco decides to do some tricks to prove that he’s a good magician. 

This sets off a chain reaction of every magician—with the exception of Thaddeus—performing tricks one after the other. Not only were the tricks and chemistry between characters fantastic to watch, but I was incredibly impressed with the camerawork. The entire scene is filmed in one shot, meaning every trick had to go perfectly as it transitioned to the next.

I understand that CGI and VFX effects were probably used for some of these tricks, but it’s still a very impressive sequence to pull off, especially since this franchise does a lot of practical effects over CGI.

This wasn’t the only time the magic tricks were fun to watch. Even if it was just a flashback showing how a trick was done, I still loved getting to see the behind-the-scenes moments in flashback sequences.

The plot for this movie is also very entertaining. The Four Horsemen are tasked to steal the Heart Diamond from Vanderberg and to expose her family and their mysterious past.

Again, a few moments in this movie seem a little far-fetched, but it doesn’t ruin the fun and chaotic nature. There’s something fun or interesting happening in almost every scene, always keeping the audience’s attention.

It doesn’t even skip giving a quick explanation for some characters being missing for parts of the movies, even if it’s just a quick one-liner that gets looked over by the next line said.

Like the last two “Now You See Me” movies, there are several small twists throughout the movie, all leading up to the big one. 

I’m ashamed to say that I actually didn’t predict the big twist in this one. Usually, when I watch a movie that I know is going to have a twist, I can piece together enough to get an idea of where the twist will go. For “Now You Don’t,” I was completely thrown off by the big reveal. I won’t give it away, but hopefully it catches you off guard as well.

The main message of the film is a little different from the past films.

There’s still the big point about taking down corrupt billionaires and giving their money back to the people they’ve taken it from. I love that this always remains a prominent plot in the franchise, giving it a Robin Hood narrative. 

However, this movie feels a bit more family and hope focused. There are several sentimental moments between new and old characters talking about how they’re the only people they really have.

There’s also the commenting of time passing in the franchise, especially considering the last movie came out nine years ago. 

At the beginning of the movie, Jack says, “War, pandemics, climate change, AI. Let’s face it, you all need magic now more than ever.”

I thought this quote was a nice way to show that the Four Horsemen have been gone for so long while also subtly highlighting the darkness in the world.

Now, I do understand that this film isn’t a masterpiece, but I don’t think it’s a waste of time. While it only scored 59% on “Rotten Tomatoes,” it also scored 81% from the audience. Just like the quote Jack says in the beginning, this film is here to bring some magic to our lives. Is it perfect? No, but it’s fun, and who should be opposed to that?

I believe that a large reason this movie works so well is that the actors’ love for the franchise bleeds through the screen. 

Film critic Caroline Siede of “The A.V. Club” wrote, “The star-studded cast clearly loves making these movies together and that sense of enthusiasm goes a long way towards selling the knowingly ridiculous magic.”

Again, the cast’s chemistry really sells this movie, helping make up for the moments that seem a little too elaborate. 

“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” provides a fun and magical take on a jewelry heist, and I highly recommend seeing it, especially if you’re a fan of the first two movies. You can see the movie in theaters now.