The original “Now You See Me” was one of the best summer films of 2013, filled with great set pieces, fun actors and an interesting premise. Unfortunately, a lot of the magic has disappeared in the 2016 sequel, NOW YOU SEE ME 2.
Our cast is still game for adventure. The original Horsemen return, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and are joined by Lizzy Caplan. All are still having fun and Harrelson & Caplan are especially good this time around.
It’s a year after The Horsemen beat the FBI at their own game and rained money down on their audiences. An eccentric and incredibly wealthy young technology guru (Daniel Radcliffe, excellent) lures the team into another adventure to foil his plan to steal a whole lot of private data from every mobile phone in the country.
As the same time, Dylan (Mark Ruffalo, always good) is up against Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman) who seeks revenge for part one from his jail cell.
A globetrotting adventure to Macau is really well done, exciting & fun. Much of the dialogue is witty and the banter is quick and enjoyable, but it’s all a little exhausting by the end, with maybe one too many card tricks, whirling cameras, unexpected twin brothers or goofy plot twists to maintain any continuity.
One of the characters blusters that “In a world of total surveillance, the only true power lies in not being seen.” If that’s the measure of success, this sequel must be very powerful in America, as word of mouth killed the film in the USA, where it earned about half of the original film’s total at the box office. That’s about the right ratio, it’s half as good! With over $300 million in worldwide box office, it still made a ton of money, though.
If there is a Part Three, lets hope the title and the plot are more clever than Part 2, because by the end of this installment, it appears there is nothing up their sleeve, earning it a C.
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