Review - Now You See Me (2013)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Over the years, we've talked about movies that feature magic in its most fantastic depictions, whether it's the magic of the Wizarding World, or the magic of the Christmas spirit. But, I realized we've never talked about staged magic. You know, the kind of things people pay to see performed on stage, with various tricks to fool the eye. Interestingly enough, one of my favorite movies of 2013 was centered on a quartet of skilled magicians using their skills to screw over the wealthy and give their money to those in need. 

        This is my review of the movie Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier, and starring Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine, Common, and Morgan Freeman. 

        The movie, as I mentioned, centers on four street magicians: the arrogant illusionist J. Daniel Atlas, the hypnotist and mentalist Merritt McKinney, the lovely escapist Henley Reeves, and the illusionist pickpocket Jack Wilder. Over the course of a few days, their acts are observed by an individual in a hoodie, and they are each given a tarot card with a date, time, and address on the cards. So, the four head to a seemingly empty New York City apartment, where they are shown a few designs for some really epic looking shows. So, the four team up to put on the most incredible magic act of all time, becoming known as the Four Horsemen. 

        One year later, and the Horsemen have a sold out arena show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where they reveal their final trick of the evening: they're going to rob a bank. Chosen from the audience seemingly at random, the Horsemen bring a Frenchman named Étienne Forcier, whose account is with Crédit Républicain de Paris, and use a teleport helmet to send him to the vault in his bank in Paris, where he puts both a playing card with his signature and his ticket stub in the middle of the money pile, and the money is sucked into the vents, dropping on the crowd in Las Vegas. 

       The next day, the Horsemen are taken into custody by the FBI, who call in Special Agent Dylan Rhodes to investigate the robbery, along with Interpol agent Alma Dray. Unable to prove their responsibility for robbing the bank, the FBI releases the Horsemen, and Dylan is informed of an audience member during the show: famed magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley. After a nice lunch, where Thaddeus and Alma speak about magician Lionel Shrike, who died attempting to escape from a safe in the middle of the East River in New York, Thaddeus breaks down how the Horsemen got €3.2 million out of Paris and into Las Vegas. The truth is that they never robbed the bank. Instead, they took the money from the armored truck carrying the freshly minted money to the bank, replaced it with counterfeit money made of flash paper, which burned when they needed it to and left no trace save for the playing card and ticket stub. As for the bank vault Étienne was sent to? A mock up built under the stage. And Etienne himself was pre-selected because of his bank, with the Horsemen convincing him to check out the show in Vegas. 

       So, the Horsemen get ready for their next show in New Orleans, where we see a confrontation with Thaddeus and the Horsemen's financier, insurance magnate Arthur Tressler. That night, however, after showcasing several amazing feats, as well as a typical trick of the rabbit box (you know, where the rabbit is behind a mirror, making it look like the box is empty?), their final trick is to magically transfer millions of dollars to the people in the audience. Money from Arthur Tressler's account, as his insurance company screwed these people over. How did they do it? Well, on the plane to New Orleans, Daniel attempted a bit of mentalism on Arthur, essentially getting the password to his bank account. Whoops. Anyway, a chase through the partying streets of New Orleans ensues, with folks getting pelted with beaded necklaces (it was Mardi Gras after all), and the Horsemen getting away. Arthur, fed up with this loss of money, hires Thaddeus to bring the Horsemen down. Meanwhile, Alma tells Dylan that she believes that a mysterious group of magicians called The Eye may be involved with the Horsemen. 

       Okay, so the final performance is in the 5 Pointz area of New York, but before we get to that, we have to say goodbye to the youngest of the Horsemen: Jack Wilder, who acts as a distraction for the FBI, ending in a firey crash on the Queensboro Bridge. All the while, a safe, belonging to a company called Elkhorn, with millions of dollars goes missing, and is loaded into a truck, which the FBI chase to a spot where Lionel Shrike once practiced magic. However, the safe in the truck, it turns out, is filled with balloon animals. The remaining three Horsemen have their final show at 5 Pointz, where they disappear in a burst of counterfeit money. As for the real Elkhorn money? In Thaddeus Bradley's car. 

      In his jail cell, Thaddeus breaks down the day's events to Dylan. Firstly, the Elkhorn safe was hidden behind a mirror, which turned the room it was in into a massive rabbit box. Jack Wilder was still alive, and the crash was a decoy car with a cadaver (taken from the morgue) in the driver's seat. And while the FBI was chasing the safe with the balloon animals, Jack shattered the massive mirror, cracked the safe open, and took the money. But, one question remains? Who is it that is helping the Horsemen? Well, it turns out that Dylan himself is the one who brought the Horsemen together, and HE was the one who left them with the tarot cards a year ago. And, Dylan leaves a confused Thaddeus in jail, wanting him to be locked up for quite some time. 

      Meanwhile, Daniel, Merritt, and Henley reunite with Jack in Central Park, where their tarot cards form into a single card, which interacts with the card in the Lionel Shrike tree, and the carousel turns on, with Dylan waiting for the Horsemen. Shocked by the revelation of their mysterious benefactor, Dylan reveals that the four of them are officially accepted, telling them "The real magic was taking four strong solo acts and making them work together, and that's exactly what you did. So, welcome. Welcome to The Eye." Dylan hops onto the rapidly accelerating carousel, followed by the Horsemen, and the five disappear. 

         Some days later, Dylan meets Alma at the Pont des Artes in Paris, where he reveals a few things. Lionel Shrike was Dylan's father, who was goaded into attempting a comeback by Thaddeus. The safe was cheaply made, warped in the East River and trapping Lionel, and was manufactured by Elkhorn. The insurance was denied by both the insurance company, Tressler Insurance, and the bank, Crédit Républicain de Paris. Now, logically, Alma should have arrested Dylan for his involvement with the Horsemen. However, because the two formed a romantic bond throughout the movie, they instead decide to leave it all secret, locking it with a Lover's Lock on the bridge, tossing the key into the Seine. 

        Okay, so when this movie came out I was really excited for it. And why not? It's stage magicians ripping off the rich and giving the money to the poor. It's a really interesting concept that, with a lesser cast and a lesser director behind the camera, would have probably not been as successful as the movie ended up being. But, because it's the cast we got, and it was Louis Leterrier behind the camera, it all came together perfectly. 

         The four magicians, played respectively by Jesse Eisenberg (Daniel), Woody Harrelson (Merritt), Isla Fisher (Henley), and Dave Franco (Jack) really gel together, and are always fun to see on screen together throughout the movie. Now, something worth noting is that the actors were all trained by real life stage magicians, who also acted as consultants on the film to give it a sense of credibility. Because the idea is that the Horsemen are the magicians of the future, so it helps to have actual magicians involved with the movie to lend some credibility to what the on-screen magicians are doing. 

        I also liked both Dylan and Alma, portrayed by Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent, and how their romantic attraction built naturally over the course of the movie. I also liked how the movie was pointing in the direction that she may have been involved with the Horsemen, until it was revealed thank Dylan was behind the Horsemen the entire time. Both Michael Caine as Tressler and Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus were excellent antagonists in the movie, and both acted the hell out of their roles. These are two of the best actors in the industry, so it's always a treat watching them perform. 

       Overall, Now You See Me is one of the better movies from the summer of 2013. I highly recommend checking it out only for the star-studded cast and the amazing visual effects. I'm giving the movie a 5/5. Definitely a must watch. But, that's all the time I have today. So, I'll be back tomorrow with my review of the second movie, Now You See Me 2.