Now You See Me: Now Is Not a light and entertaining crime comedy, offering plenty of illusions, but sometimes struggling to figure out what to do with its numerous characters vying for attention.
However, I would describe this third installment of Now You See Me as a rather enjoyable option for a pleasant time at the movies, especially for those needing a break from all the prestige and/or horror films dominating the fall lineup.
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco
Directed by Ruben Fleischer, with a screenplay by Seth Grahame Smith, Michael Lesslie, and Rhett Reese, the film opens by revealing a new group of magicians in town.
The new Horsemen are led by Bosco (Dominic Sessa), who is essentially the new Atlas; the other two newcomers are Charlie (Justice Smith), who works behind the scenes, and the cunning con artist June (Ariana Greenblatt).
In that opening sequence, the trio takes to the stage to steal all the money a corrupt businessman has embezzled from pensioners, and they do so in such an ingenious way that it could be considered the best scene in the film.
Shortly after, the real J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) joins the new Horsemen, and that's when the main plot kicks in: the real fight is against Veronika Vandenberg (Rosamund Pike), a member of a South African business family that specializes in selling diamonds to the worst kind of people in the world, helping them launder their blood money while becoming enormously wealthy in the process.
It's worth noting that the Horsemen describe themselves as anti-corruption and anti-capitalist, while also fighting for equal representation, whereas Veronika, on the other hand, comes from a white family that may even have had ties to the Nazis during World War II.
This doesn't make Now You See Me: Now You Don't a political film, but as a mere embellishment, it serves its purpose.
Returning to the story: shortly after the beginning, Atlas joins the other original Riders: Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher).
We're immediately presented with a kind of variation on Ocean's 7, which later becomes the eighth or ninth (or even the eighth again), depending on who's telling the story.
It's a lighthearted, globetrotting adventure that travels through Belgium, France, and Abu Dhabi, and revolves around an ingenious diamond heist and its elaborate consequences, but at 112 minutes, I must say it felt a bit long by the end.
I could easily have missed some of the informal conversation between characters who are getting to know each other or even reconnecting.
It's an example of a film that wants to give all the main characters something to do, without really knowing what.
The illusions on display are, for the most part, good; there are plenty of magical and surprising moments, and I suppose that's why so many people go to see these films.
Even so, the biggest trick of The Horsemen was promising us that, after three films, "this is just the beginning."
Twelve years after the first film and nine years after the second, I wouldn't mind seeing a fourth, but I would tell everyone who worked behind the scenes that there's no need to rush.
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