In spite of having a
wonderful cast of actors and a great premise about four magicians robbing banks
and distributing their spoils with their audience, leaving the FBI dumbfounded,
the movie fails to create what is called 'movie magic'. It is a plot-driven
movie as opposed to a character-driven movie. The cast give a fine performance
but never gel together or work together as a unit. The plot twists and turns
and in the end gives you a twist that makes you feel like finding an empty
table, standing at one side and then flipping it out of dismay at how lazily
the plot is written.
Poorly Written Characters
'Now You See Me'
features a lot of magic tricks and illusions but that is all that it has to
offer. The characters have no back-story and motivations. We are introduced to
the four magicians in a matter of around four minutes and that is all that you
know will about them. There is no attempt at making a connection with the
characters. Why would they risk their lives and careers taking orders from
someone who they had never met? They don't care, so why should I? So, you have
four main characters about whom you do not know anything except that they
perform magic tricks. And that is all they do till the end of the movie,
besides making poor attempts at humor and trying to look as if they are a team.
They are not, as there is not a single moment they bond as a group. Also, they
are experts in martial arts and high speed driving and equally good with
gadgets and technology. All this acts as a distraction from the fact that the
movie has poorly developed characters.
Distractions
Speaking of
distractions, the cast of great actors try to make you overlook how lazy the
plot is. They give a fine performance with nothing remarkable. Lucius
Fox(Morgan Freeman) is there for some exposition. Alfred (Michael Caine) is
there and disappears halfway around the movie. The Hulk(Mark Ruffalo) is
confused by everything. Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent) from 'Inglorious Basterds'
is there to act as a love interest for The Hulk and is all mysterious with the
talk of 'The Eye'. Another attempt to distract you, so that in the end when it
is revealed that The Hulk was the mastermind you can go, "Hey ! I thought
she was behind all this…but he is…I never saw that coming…I guess it's kind of
clever". Well, it's not.
A Lazy Plot
A failed magician
starts to reveal the secrets of his fellow magicians to the public forcing one
of them to try some escape illusion that goes wrong and he is killed. So, now a
secret organization takes his son in and teaches him magic so that he can wait
for like 20-30 years and plan his "revenge" for which he conveniently
finds four magicians who will risk everything to rob banks for a cause they
know nothing about. And in the meantime, the son also joins the FBI and would
and rise up in the ranks and becomes a reputed agent and then gets handed the
case of the four magicians robbing banks. Nothing can possibly go wrong. The
plot does nothing to lift or add to the initial premise of four magicians using
their skills to rob banks and helping out those in need. In the end it turns
out to be some revenge plot and something about the four magicians trying to
get into a secret society. The final twist is just lazy writing and
underwhelming.
More Distractions
Speaking of being
lazy, the magic tricks in this movie rely a lot on CGI and some of it not that
good and acts as a further distraction. Speaking of distractions, when magic
tricks do not seem enough there is a lot advanced technology that is thrown
about. The Hulk has access to technology that would give Tony Stark a run for
his money.
Using the
terminology from another movie about magicians('The Prestige',2006) I would say
that 'Now You See Me' has a fine "Pledge" and an alright
"Turn" but fails badly in the third act, "The Prestige".
Rating : 5.0/10.0
The closer I look
the more I don’t want to.
Here are my thoughts on why the magic in 'Now You See Me' doesn't work.
Here are my thoughts on why the magic in 'Now You See Me' doesn't work.
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