Now You See Me

Something – and I don’t think any mentalist’s trickery was involved here – hooked me about the trailer for Now You See Me. I really liked the concept – four different kinds of show magician taking on the FBI, almost like superheroes – and the cast was great. I wanted to see Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine facing off. I wanted to see Woody Harrelson as the team’s sceptical older member, and Jesse Eisenberg once again capturing the very essence of a smug young man who nevertheless wields great power. I wanted to see Marc Ruffalo in another role other than Bruce Banner, and Isla Fisher in the flesh after so many roles in animation.

And I thoroughly enjoyed it, too – I enjoyed the central idea, the Robin Hood attitude, the different aspects of illusionism and the place of the guy who debunks other magicians, too. I figured out the twist, as I’m sure most did – but only because of an awareness of Hollywood conventions when it comes to twists, and the mistake of suspicion being cast on every other major player in the piece as the true mastermind…meaning it was going to be none of them.

The big reveal was surprisingly enough not the main attraction here, though, and the ride itself was the fun. In particular the dynamic of the four magicians was great – the big showman who goes from the trick with the slight delay on one card that David Blaine did for cinema adverts rather better to a spectacular building-sized reveal, the mentalist who is a master of cold-readings but also a gifted hypnotist, the one-time sidekick who has gone solo with a seductive yet sadistic shock routine, and the young street magician whose real gifts are pickpocketing and lockpicking. Where suspicion cast on them means that at certain points you’re not sure if you’re seeing character development or careful performances, enough of their true colours show that they’re a very likeable bunch and of course not the masterminds of the piece, and the other side gets humanised by a young female Interpol officer who really gets into the concept of magic.  

There are a few stretches – not least that several times the characters could really have ended up dead – but it just hangs together enough to work. Fun, gripping and overall a bit comic-book without actually being comic-book, it’s one of the most fun films I’ve seen in a long while.