SYNOPSIS: Four talented magicians mesmerize an international audience with a series of bold and original heists, all the while pursuing a hidden agenda that has the FBI and Interpol scrambling to anticipate their next move in Now You See Me, a visually spectacular blend of astonishing illusions and exhilarating action from director Louis Leterrier 

REVIEW: Movies come in several varieties of “entertaining.” There are the those films that are great and consists of many awesome attributes such as A-list actors, a great script, an intriguing plot and great cinematography, just to name a few. Then there are those films that fall at the bottom of the barrel, lacking many of the basic elements that make a movie worthwhile. However, there are those few rare films that fall in the middle of the spectrum, where they consist of a few good attributes, but lack that one single attribute that will tip it over in to the category of great film-making. “Now you see me,” is just such. It has the element of a highly respected director, Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans 2010), notable writers Ed Solomon (Men in Black, 1997) and Boaz Yakin (Safe, 2012), a relatively decent all-star lineup of cast members, and very interesting visuals. However, it still fell short of having that little something that could have made it a great movie. 

Something I found really interesting about the heavily dialog-loaded script is that, at one point in the film, one of the leading characters tells someone that “the key to magic is always being the smartest person in the room.” A great quote on every level, except that the film gives the viewer opportunities to be that “smartest person in the room” at every moment throughout runtime. Not a great move, I would add. The viewers should not be one step ahead of the movie at any point in time. In other words, if this film’s creative team cannot sweep the audience off in to a believable fantasy for an hour and twenty minutes, then they have failed miserably leaving the audience feeling cheated and wanting their money back. Hence, I would say that the writer’s didn’t follow their own philosophy at all. And in fact, the true philosophy of this flick should be “the more you know about it, the more bewildering you’ll find it.”

The movie is simply over-the-top and pretentious on every conceivable level and simply did not pass the smell test for being remotely interesting or intriguing despite the fact that this seems to be the selling point for this flick. Throughout the movie, there was the feeling of mystery and fascination that seem to fall flat at almost every twist and turn that the movie took, with the exception of one during the climax. Unfortunately that too (the climax) turned out to me a huge disappointment, despite the great effort put forward by the notable cast and that which the movie set out to achieve.

Nevertheless, I did find the casting and acting to be top notch. The visuals were great, but a little overbearing, for the most part. I found the storyline a little difficult to follow because of the extremely confusing dialog between the primary characters, but with a few small changes, the plot could have made for the year’s best caper movie. I wouldn’t recommend a visit to the theaters to see this release, but it could be nice DVD-night movie with friends. It deserves about two and a half stars for great acting and casting.

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