Director: Jon M. Chu
Distributor: Belga Home Video
Duration: 129 minutes
Now You See Me 2 (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Movies revolving around magic have always been a hot topic, especially when they involve kinds of magic that can only happen in fantasy stories or cartoons. Of course, realistic movies, such as The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, had no issue pleasing fans of the genre either. Nonetheless, we trade in fantasy elements, or the rather sober cinematography for something flashy and truly Hollywood-like with the sequel of Now You See Me. The ‘horsemen’ are at it again, but not to inaugurate the end of days, but actually to aid humanity and expose enormous criminals.
After spending a year in hiding things have reached a point where Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) doesn’t really trust Dylan’s (Mark Ruffalo) judgment anymore, and thus he tries to contact the secret organization ‘The Eye’ himself, hoping to find answers of what their future plans will be. Nonetheless, his supposed meeting raises even more questions and it seems he’ll just have to go with the flow. As their party currently is short one member, Dylan decides to recruit a new magician, namely Lula (Lizzy Caplan), who quickly becomes the odd one out as her illusions and tricks are quite unorthodox and are heavily focused on gore and shock tactics. While the rest of the party isn’t immediately all that happy to have a new member, it’s clear she’ll fit in properly in due time.
When the team decides to come out of hiding, it’s to expose Owen Case (Ben Lamb), a man who is currently trying to breach all privacy laws, simply to earn himself a shiny penny on the side. Sadly, the exposure of this fraud doesn’t go as planned, as their stage performance is interrupted not only by the FBI, but another presence that is trying to return the favor and expose the horsemen themselves. Even Dylan, who works for the FBI, has to make a run for it, albeit cut off from his underlings. When all of a sudden the party of four finds themselves in China, after being hypnotized, they come into contact with Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who has brought them there in order to steal a valuable chip for him. Even though declining would be the proper thing to do, with the threat of being killed, they decide to gear up for the task at hand, while also thinking of a backup plan.
Now You See Me 2 has enough spectacular scenes to behold, but the movie takes its time to set the proper foundation for its rather big and impressive finale. As a viewer, you’ll get enough information to process most things that are going on, but they’ll leave out enough elements in order to give you the chance to ponder about things to come, or how certain ‘tricks’ were done by the party, and their nemeses. It’s certainly a clear sign of originality and a decently thought out plot when you’re able to think of possible plot points while watching from the sidelines.
Cast wise not much has changed in this second movie, which is a great thing seeing which stellar cast the first flick had. Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco still play their ‘horsemen’ characters, while Morgan Freeman still plays the role of their nemesis, who originally tried to expose the party of do-gooders. The new ‘horseman’ is portrayed by Lizzy Caplan, who plays a rather atypical magician, who rather uses shocking and brutal elements in her ‘tricks’ and illusions, which is actually a very nice touch to the otherwise in sync team. Truth be told, we hardly noticed she was replacing Isla Fisher, who was the original female member of the party. An interesting addition to the cast is Daniel Radcliffe, who is actually the new villain, Walter. He plays his rather psychopathic and unstable millionaire persona rather well, and shows that this young actor is capable of so much more than playing an arrogant, yet heroic, wizard.
While the special features of the Blu-ray edition of Now You See Me 2 are rather plentiful, they also feel a bit like a making of that’s split into different segments, with the parts about creating the stages and the atmosphere of the movie probably being the most entertaining. Other than that, you’ll get a twenty minute featurette where every actor just keeps complimenting their co-stars, which really starts to feel like a sausage fest after only a few minutes. Other than that, you can enjoy audio commentary and the original trailer. Overall these features are well appreciated, even with the unnatural complimenting sequence being among them.
Conclusion
Now You See Me 2 is a great sequel to its original counterpart, even though the element of surprise has faded a bit with this iteration. Nonetheless, you’ll be treated to a proper story with a fun combination of special effects and real illusions, certainly pleasing those who still love a good story with magicians in the lead. With a new surprising ‘villain’ in the lead, this movie, and its extras, will provide a few evenings worth of fun content.
Now You See Me 2 (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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