Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo.
Rating/Volume: 7.5 (39,000).
My rating: WATCH
Source: Cineworld cinemas
Well, I only saw this movie a few hours ago, so I thought I'd get it out of the way while it's still fresh in my head. I usually see films on a Wednesday with my girlfriend, but as we had scheduling conflicts my Mum took me instead; good ol' Mum! Even so, Now You See Me still ended up being a great two hours of magical entertainment. Just in case you aren't familiar with it, I've put the link to a trailer down below.
A bit of background to the film, Now You See Me follows four magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco) all with different talents, who are all invited to the same location for some unknown reason. After discovering instructions left to the them, the story picks picks up a year later where they are putting on a huge show in Las Vegas where they appear to publically rob a bank! The story continues as it follows FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) as they try to catch the 'four horsemen' before they get to perform their finale!
This film is one I've been particularly looking forward to for a few months now. Partly because it looked so damn cool and modern, partly because of the very, very cool cast and partly because, well, I used to be an amateur magician. Yeah, laugh it up! I used to go to wedding parties and christenings at the local pubs and entertain the nice drunkenly adults who used to find me frigging adorable. I was only young but I got quite into it and spent most of my days planning a children's entertainment business. That being said, magic is still something very close to my heart and I tend to automatically drift towards films featuring magic and illusion when a new one surfaces. Even though I struggle to find acts that I don't know the secrets to, I still get a kick out of watching everybody else getting hopelessly fooled. I love it. Particularly the opening scene in this film. The look on everyone's face in the cinema when they all had the card that J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) reveales. It reignites the passion. My first ever proper magic kit got my into magic, but I often find when films like this come out it inspires (for at least a few weeks) a new generation of wannabe illusionists. You start seeing more decks of cards in the school yard, a few more prime time magic shows and even the odd new magic act appearing. Reading an article that the BBC just wrote (see below) it appears that magic is facing a resurgence. If there is any film that is going to encourage a resurgence it's definitely going to be this one!
This film is going to make illusion cool again. Forget Dynamo. Show Derren Brown the door. Woody Harrelson is in the house! The cast is this film is great. For a start, five of my top ten actors of all time are all in this film, I mean, how often does that happen!? Morgan Freeman, to me, is the main antagonist in this film he plays a magic 'de-bunker'; he sells podcasts on how magicians do their tricks. But, as much as I personally hate this character's guts, I think Morgan Freeman plays a good part. In fact the whole film is cast very well. Each of the four main magicians are excellent. They all fit in well with their respective roles in the movie and they really make the film unique. This is what I'd consider to be one of Dave Franco's best projects to date; I thought he did so well and had such a great character. It was agreat representation of the modern magic scene. In fact one of my favourite scenes is where him and Mark Ruffalo are fighting in an apartment, except it's with magic. It's hard to explain. It just needs to be watched! The team's first show in Las Vegas is a great spectacle to behold. It all happens on a grand stage with hundreds of people in the crowd. The lights, the sounds, the atmosphere; it made me really feel like I was a real Vegas show. It was very well done and I'm sure it will make you want to run away to Vegas for a weekend and sample the shows!
Even though this film is technically about magic, it's definitely more of a heist film. The four horsemen are constantly two steps ahead of the cops and whilst they are running around America robbing banks and putting on shows. They leave the agents bumbling in their dust trail. The action (or at least what I'd consider action) is great. There are car chases, big special effects and the illusions are presented with such scale; It was definitely the best area of the film. I felt that even though the story was good and had a decent amount of twists and turns, I really felt that less could have been more in terms of how complicated the plot was. Even though it was relatively easy to get at the end and I even found the whole ending quite satisfying, I still think they had too much build up to the smallest of plot points whilst giving too much away for the big finale twist. I found myself exhausted trying to keep up with the amount of hints they were dropping throughout the film. I think even though it could have been handled a bit better than they did, I still very much enjoyed the story. Please do not let it put you off. That being said, if it came down to story vs. visuals and action, I think visuals and action take this trophy!
Overall, I think this is definitely a dark horse to do well this summer in the box office. It's a compelling and suspenseful thrill ride that will make magic cool and fun again; It's about time that something succeeded!
Now, I'm going to ask you to go and watch it yourself. It's currently in cinemas everywhere. Feel free to send me a message at reviewthe250@gmail.com with any comments and your own views and opinions and don't forget to comment down below.
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Thanks for reading!
William
Next: Continuing the Disney trend with Beauty and the Beast (#237)
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJNYYkkhzc
BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23143524
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