‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ Is Lame, But That’s Why It’s Kinda Cool

The Now You See Me trilogy of movies make up one of the strangest franchises to crop up in the last decade. These wholly original works feature huge stars stepping into the shoes of magicians, often performing tricks that border on the supernatural. The original film and its sequel are truly gonzo pieces of pop art, and the third film – finally subtitled Now You Don’t – is no different.

Although a smidge more grounded than its two predecessors, you probably know what to expect from Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. The film is not “good” in the traditional sense, with extremely hokey dialogue and a script that seems desperate to prove how cool what you’re watching is. It’s pretty lame – but in its sheer, single-minded determination to achieve this goal, the pendulum swings back towards unhinged enjoyment.

The Horsemen, master magicians and illusionists with a penchant for wealth redistribution, are gone. 12 years after they first burst onto the scene as modern Robin Hoods, a new group of tricksters in Charlie, Bosco and June (Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt respectively) are utilising their visages to pull off their own heists.

However, they soon come into contact with J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), an original member of the Horsemen, and they discover that the mysterious organisation known as The Eye wants them to steal a diamond from the ultra-wealthy Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike). Along the way, they gather the other original Horsemen – Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) – to pull off the heist and other absurd trickery.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is paradoxically so lame it’s cool

That’s one part of the issue with Now You See Me: Now You Don’t… There are so many characters! Although these movies generally have positive standings with audience members, I’d hardly call them or the characters within universally beloved. It makes the film very strange to watch as it tries to balance established characters with its new cast while attempting to clearly define each of them as separate.

Furthermore, director Ruben Fleischer and writer Michael Lesslie really try their best to make everything in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t ooze suave wit, especially in the dialogue department. It doesn’t work if you’re attempting sincere enjoyment, but it’s honestly hilarious stuff if you just let the gonzo filmmaking and performances wash over you, and let the primal part of your brain be wowed by the magic sequences.

Further credit where it’s due, the actual script of Now You Don’t is appropriately twisty and fun. It also helps that it’s performed by a troupe of talented actors doing work of varying quality who make this thing move by at an alarmingly fast rate. Whether it’s Eisenberg’s snappy arrogance as Atlas, Dominic Sessa’s embodiment of the phrase “white boy swag” as Bosco or Rosamund Pike’s Veronika with a subpar but hilarious South African accent, these performers make the movie easy to watch.

The short of it is that Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the ideal popcorn movie. It’s a perfectly enjoyable, nonsensical romp through the world of magic and illusions, even if it’s a little too complicated for its own good. I honestly feel like I’ve spilled way too much ink about this film already – it’s another Now You See Me movie, you probably know what to expect!

★★★

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is in cinemas now.