An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.
I missed this one at the cinema over the summer and damn I wish I hadn’t.
We’ve had some stunning special effects films this year, (Iron Man 3 for instance) but this is a tour de force of special effects!
Now I am a sucker for illusion (just ask Movian, he rarely paid for a round just because of his card tricks) and Now You See Me had me totally sucked in from teh beginning
I’ve become a bit of a fan of Mark Ruffalo since Avengers (of course taking over the HULK role from Edward Norton, and honestly, I think it was a good change) and he is damned good as the FBI agent continually on the back foot and spun around by the Four Horseman. His Interpol partner Alma Dray (played by Mélanie Laurent) is a great juxtaposition to Ruffalo’s Dylan Rhodes, Learning and reading all about the culture of magic and magicians circle, etc, plus a budding romance that is actually quite sweet.
Of course, the stars of the film are the Four Horsemen, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinnley (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco). Jack is the new boy, picked for his brilliant pick pocketing and illusion skills, but Atlas, Reeves and McKinnley have history (Reeves being Atlas’ assistant in the past and then going her own way solo), all bought together by a mysterious figure and given all the tools and planning for a year of amazing magic and illusion (and a few massive bank heists thrown in the mix)
The film is a rollercoaster ride, its a constant up and down, but the pace is magnificent. The characters work brilliantly, including Morgan Freeman‘s Thaddeus Bradley, who professionally debunks and exposes magicians tricks after not getting into the magic circle himself and wanting revenge on the whole business, plus Michael Caine‘s Arthur Tressler, the Four Horseman’s financial backer (or is he :P)
This is, as I said, an amazing film, it’s beautiful, it’s funny and grimm in equal measure, the characters are genuinely likeable and you will them on. The action is grand and the effects are LITERALLY magical (sorry, I had to)
If you haven’t seen this film, go get it
9/10 A Must See!
~Lone
