Film review: ‘NOW YOU SEE ME, NOW YOU DON’T’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The Now You See Me franchise, which started in 2013, has proven an occasionally inventive but often annoying crime caper series that uses stage magic as device for introducing visual gags and action sequences and as an excuse for improbable plot points. Based largely on the franchise’s ability to lure likeable stars such as Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo, the Now You See Me films have survived to now include a third instalment, Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. Whether the series will continue beyond this occasionally clever but unremarkable, awkwardly written and at times flat out obnoxious effort is questionable.
This one sees the famous magic troupe ‘The Horsemen’, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) team up with a trio of young upstart magician activists Bosco (Dominic Sessa), Charlie (Justice Smith) and June (Arianna Greenblatt) to try and take down uber rich South African corporate nasty Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike).
First the positives. The film has a perky energy without becoming too frenzied. It also features glossy cinematography, some attractive locations and intriguing set designs such as a tricked up mansion that holds clues to help the Horseman battle Veronika. Additionally, a few of the magic-based scams the group pull, including a diamond heist, are impressively elaborate.
The film struggles, however, with some major problems. Many of the capers and scams involve the sorts of set-ups we’ve seen before in the early films in this series and a few are so implausible the film loses much of its credibility. A more serious problem for the film is that Woody, Morgan and Isla aside, the supposed heroes are often more obnoxious than the villain Veronika. It’s hard to get on board with characters when most of their dialogue consists of rambling unfunny outbursts, plodding exposition and irritatingly smug quips. Much of the film seems to be a contest between Atlas and Bosco for who can be the most annoyingly self-satisfied person on the planet. Dominic Sessa, who was so good in The Holdovers, unfortunately turns Bosco into a whiny obnoxious tit while Justice Smith and Arianna Greenblatt, who were impressive in Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Barbie respectively, do little here to make their characters memorable. While Woody, Isla and Morgan still have on screen charm, none of the cast illicit much in the way of empathy or emotional engagement so we’re not involved when they’re in some form of peril.
The film contains a reasonably high action quotient but the set pieces are simply not exciting, are often a little too silly (such as Bosco somehow stealing a formula one car) and feature some strangely unconvincing fight scenes.
There’s some attempt at commentary about the excesses of rich capitalists and a vaguely interesting subplot about the secret society, The Eye, lurking in the background but these tantalising tidbits are mostly lost in this cartoonish affair.
Nick’s rating: **1/2
Genre: Crime/Action/ Comedy/ Drama..
Classification: M.
Director(s): Ruben Fleischer.
Release date: 27th Nov 2025.
Running time: 113 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.