Now You See Me: Now You Don’t

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.2/5)

Rated: M

Directed by: Ruben Fleischer

Written by: Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie, Rhett Reese

Produced by: Bobby Cohen, Alex Kurtzman, Gergö Balika, Robbie McAree

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike and Morgan Freeman.

Are you in, or are you out?

The Vanderbergs have been selling diamonds at inflated prices to launder money for drug lords, arms dealers, anyone willing to pay for the privilege, just as long as they can convert their dirty money, sometimes splashed with blood, into a legitimate commodity, like a diamond.

Following the heart diamond across the world, from Africa to Abu Dabi to France, The Eye wants to drive a stick into Veronika Vanderberg’s (Rosamund Pike) business because it would be a strike against a lot of bad in the world.

But to pull together a trick to take the heart diamond will take the best in the business: the Four, no Five Horsemen.

They’ve got their own lives, Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) has a couple of kids, Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) works on cruise ships…

But when they receive those tarot cards, it’s a call that can’t be denied.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the old introducing the new – there’s new kids on the block who believe they can change the world: Julliard drop-out, Bosco (Dominic Sessa), always working behind the scenes, Charlie (Justice Smith) and pick-pocket extraordinaire June (Ariana Greeblatt).  They’ve founded their own family.  They want to take from the rich and give to their audience.  And themselves.

But never cross, The Horsemen because they might rope you into working a new trick to steal the heart diamond.

I’m struggling to lift the idea of the film because this instalment felt diluted compared to the previous two, Now You See me films – I’m thinking of that unforgettable intro scene of Henley with the piranhas in, Now You See Me (2013).

There’s the same style in this third instalment, with the difference of introducing the new generation of characters.

The tongue-in-cheek works well with the new characters holding their own, all likeable in their own way, ‘Zip it sparkles.’

But the tricks have lost their edge to accommodate the new characters, the transition to the new generation seemingly the magic here, rather than focusing on the art of trickery.

There’s some showing off that’s fun and a highlight to see Isla Fisher back as Henley.  Rosamund Pike was well cast as the villainous Veronka Vanderberg, but that raw energy of the previous two instalments has gone.

And there’s a glossing over of tragedy that was left without resolution, like a finality that was half done, so I felt like I was waiting for a revelation that never came to fruition.

Having said all that, there’s light-hearted fun here that managed to avoid making the new characters cheesy, creating a seamless transition from old to new that yes, diluted the Now You See Me formula by taking away the edge from the magic, but still allowed an entertaining watch that was OK, just not abracadabra amazing.

2013