I love anything involving magic and as soon as I saw the trailer for Now You See Me, I knew that I had to see it in theaters.
The movie is really more of a crime drama involving magician than it is a movie about magic. Now You See Me centers around a foursome of magicians who call themselves The Four Horsemen. They have been brought together as a team through a mysterious mastermind who gives them the blueprint to pull off the ultimate magic show and bank heist. The Four Horsemen hold three elaborate magic shows, each building on the last to complete their ultimate scheme. More than half the movie is dedicated to police detectives as they struggle to outsmart the magicians.
This movie is fun. It's not one that will go on to win awards, but that's okay. It's the type of movie that is likely to be in heavy rotation on TV and one that if I happened to be channel surfing and landed on it, I would definitely get sucked into watching the entire thing, commercials and all.
This movie requires a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. A lot happens and although the story does a decent job of providing explanations, there are a lot of the pieces of the puzzle that seem to occur without much struggle, with the timing just perfect. Normally this would bother me, but the fun-factor of the movie was high enough, that I can let it slide.
Great cast. In particular, Woody Harrelson as the hypnotist was hilarious. All of The Four Horsemen were such dynamic characters, that I wish the movie had less of the police and more of the magicians. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were fantastic in supporting roles.
The movie does a good job at always keeping an air of mystery. There is a big twist at the end and there was enough misdirection in the movie, that I'm positive that no one in the audience saw it coming. The constant mystery and quick pacing keeps the movie entertaining throughout.
While this movie doesn't need to be seen on the big screen, it's worth watching. Although strictly a popcorn movie, Now You See Me, provides entertainment that is slightly outside the glut of typical summer movie offerings.