Any great illusion contains more than just a trick - there’s also performance, showmanship and, of course, the element of surprise. Much like the magic it contained, 2013’s ‘Now You See Me’ was all of these things and more, leading to its smashing success and “sleeper hit” status, resulting in the release of its sequel ‘Now You See Me 2’.
18 months after the events of the first film, the Horsemen (minus one) are in hiding and growing impatient for their next move - Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) the most restless of them all. When the time comes for their latest spectacle, and with their new recruit Lula (Lizzy Caplan) in-tow, their secrets are exposed and everything goes awry at the hands of their latest nemesis. Now is the city of Macau, they’re tasked with stealing a computer thingy to regain their lives and freedom - but not before making the bad guys pay, in front of a world-wide audience.
'NOW YOU SEE ME 2' TRAILER 4
Since this is a sequel, the film can’t rely on the element of surprise. We’re all well acquainted with the cast of characters, their goals, their angles and their motives. With so many cards already revealed, the filmmakers are forced to opt for misdirection in order to make the tricks work. Only there are so many misdirections you find yourself getting dizzy. To put it simply: this is a forced sequel. The story doesn’t flow on nicely from the first film, so they’ve had to pull a tale from their butts and it’s ended up as a convoluted mess. The magic has taken a back seat to the story that is so busy lining up the twists and turns that is fails to produce a coherent film filled with enough spectacle and a satisfactory ending.