Now You See Me ***
Best way to describe Louis Leterrier’s new thriller is a ‘magical Ocean’s Eleven’. It has the gloss, the sassy style, the balls and a little extra, magic. But with all the tricks up its confident sleeve, it’s still not a pitch-perfect performance, racing away a lot of the time like the director’s Transporter films to create an illusion of a well-plotted crime caper. With so many twists and turns, it becomes bloated and wasteful, however much fun we have going along for the ride and watching the cast enjoy their moment in the spotlight.
After 30 million euros goes missing from a Parisian bank vault in an elaborate magic trick done simultaneously in Las Vegas, and that money then showers a stunned audience, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) reluctantly teams up with Interpol agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) to track down the illusive Four Horsemen magicians (played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco). However, as with their magic, nothing is as it seems as the authorities play a cat-and-mouse game.
Without delving too deeply, Leterrier’s story is initially a highly intriguing one: the idea of magicians who are criminals. Indeed, both are conmen, which should make the former the best robbers in the world, surely? Indeed, the tricks they perform are pretty exciting to watch, done with the backing of serious money (supplied by shady capitalist Arthur Tressler, played by Michael Caine). However, when you finally get to the bottom of why the foursome is doing what it’s doing, the story verges on the farcical and whimsical. Indeed, Leterrier taps into the supernatural a little in some scenes so it’s anyone’s guess where things will go next and how far from the original ‘crime story’ it promises, things will venture. One thing’s for sure, it will get there quick – as is the favoured editing style.
There are some troublesome flaws that cheapen the self-assured, visual affair, such as what exactly is the personal mystery/gain surrounding Dray (this is suggested but never taken anywhere). Could this subplot have fallen victim to the cutting room? If the great Thaddeus Bradley (another magician played by Morgan Freeman) were so accomplished, surely he would have been tempted to be as dishonest as the Horsemen whose tricks he wants to expose, rather than go through all the trouble to make a buck? Also, in terms of real facts, there is no Interpol international police force in operation, a common but endlessly glamorised error in most Hollywood thrillers.
Nevertheless, all the cast put on their best performances that we associate them with; from Eisenberg’s gift of the gab to Freeman’s natural mystique, so there is a lot to be satisfied by. There is also an underlying ‘kick in the teeth’ for authority and the moneymen who pull the strings, a revenge element that is also very pleasing.
And that’s just it: Now You See Me is a crowd pleaser not a cerebral thriller full of clever ideas, and its convoluted plot weakens its momentum that could be razor sharp and nippy.
3/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
