Now You See Me 2 (2016) review

May 2013 saw the release of director Louis Leterrier’s Now You See Me, a magic-themed caper centering on a group of magicians known as the Four Horsemen who performed a series of elaborate heists during their performances, gave the money they stole to their audience, and always stayed one step ahead of the FBI. While the film received generally mixed reviews, with some criticizing the film’s twist-filled screenplay, it was actually a surprise hit at the box office, grossing over $350 million worldwide. I say ‘surprise hit’ because, to reference the review that I wrote for the film, I have the feeling that magic acts a la David Copperfield (who’s actually one of the sequel’s producers) and Penn and Teller haven’t really been as popular in recent years as they once were. However, that didn’t end up affecting Now You See Me in the slightest and of course, that’s now led to a sequel: Now You See Me 2. The majority of the first film’s cast return for this new film, with the only major exception being a change in female leads, but this time around there’s a change in director. Instead of Louis Leterrier, Jon Chu (director of another franchise sequel, 2013’s G.I. Joe Retaliation, as well as last year’s rather infamous critical/commercial bomb Jem and the Holograms) steps in to direct the Four Horsemen’s next adventure. And believe it or not, Now You See Me 2 actually manages to be a superior sequel to what was already a pretty solid magic-based thriller. Like its predecessor, this film is full of twists and turns as well as plenty of really cool magic-related visuals. Ultimately though there are some things that this film does, namely in terms of pacing and plotting, that actually help make it a stronger film as a whole.

It has been a year since the Four Horsemen; street magician J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), sleight of hand illusionist/card throwing expert Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and escapist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher, who did not return to reprise her role in the sequel) pulled off a series of elaborate heists all across the country, all of which were revealed to have been orchestrated by FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) in order to strike back at those who were directly and indirectly responsible for the death of his father, magician Lionel Shrike. When the team, now including new recruit Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), is reunited to pull off another heist, this time against a tech magnate, they are suddenly exposed when a mysterious figure publicly reveals their secrets, including the fact that Jack faked his death in the previous film and that Dylan is their ‘leader’. As they try and escape from the FBI, the team suddenly find themselves halfway across the world in Macau, China and are forced to work for tech prodigy Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who was the one who publicly outed them. Walter blackmails them into stealing for him a special computer chip that he had developed with his former work partner, the aforementioned tech magnate, before he had been ‘screwed over’. With no other options for them to get back on their feet, the Horsemen agree to steal the chip for Walter and find themselves having to pull off their biggest heist yet in order to set things right.

Like the first film, this film’s plot is full of twists and turns and admittedly you might end up figuring some of them out from a mile away before they happen. Either that or you’re probably going to notice some plot-holes if you really start to look deeper into the plot. But even with that in mind, like the first film Now You See Me 2 benefits greatly from its unique premise of combining a heist plot with the art of magic. And while I’m very much well aware that quite a few of the ‘tricks’ pulled off in the film were done with CGI, it still results in some really cool visual moments, from the Horsemen tossing a playing card containing the computer chip around so that guards won’t notice it to Daniel manipulating rain during an appearance in London (and for the record, the film does explain how he was able to do this). Ultimately though there are two main reasons why this film actually manages to surpass its predecessor. For one thing, Chu gives the film a much more energetic atmosphere as well as stronger pacing, which definitely helps keep things lively at all times. And second, this film actually focuses more on the Horsemen this time around. Because in the first film, the focus was split between the Horsemen and the FBI, prior to the reveal that Rhodes was the ‘fifth’ Horsemen, and admittedly it felt like the latter group were focused on more, which turned out to be quite a bit of a detriment in regards to the Horsemen. Now that Rhodes is revealed to be working with the Horsemen, this film very much gives them more screen time while the FBI is more or less a non-factor this time around. And ultimately that is a good thing as it allows for the group to have stronger character development and for the film to spend much more time on them pulling off heists.

As noted earlier, of the original Four Horsemen, only Isla Fisher is absent this time around due to her recent pregnancy. And admittedly the way that the filmmakers handle her character’s absence is the usual ‘relationship issues with the main character’ card that always tends to get pulled in a situation like this (e.g. Mila Kunis in Ted 2). Thankfully, Lizzy Caplan proves to be an excellent replacement for Fisher. Caplan works well with her main co-stars and her character’s extremely chipper personality ends up being one of the many contributors to the film’s livelier feel. Of course, like last time, the main quartet that make up the Horsemen (Eisenberg, Harrelson, Franco, and now Caplan) are excellent. They work off of each other well and they all benefit from being given more focus plot-wise. Heck, Woody Harrelson even gets to be in a dual role this time around as the film introduces Merritt’s twin brother Chase, who is shown to not really be on the best of terms with his brother. Now a part of the team for good, Mark Ruffalo actually gets a lot of good material to work with here as the film further fleshes out Dylan’s character. While he may not get to do anything magic-related like he did in the Harry Potter films, Daniel Radcliffe proves to be a pretty darn enjoyable villain who can be both hilarious and even a little odd at times. Finally, the film also sees the return of Morgan Freeman, who’s character Thaddeus Bradley, a magic debunker who frequently crossed paths with the Horsemen in the first film, once again proves to be a wild card in the film’s plot, and Michael Caine, who like in the first film is admittedly barely in this film as the Horsemen’s former benefactor Arthur Tressler.

You’ve probably noticed in my past few reviews that I’ve covered quite a few sequels recently that I feel actually managed to outdo their predecessors and that is very much the case with Now You See Me 2. I really liked the first Now You See Me because while it did have some flaws, I quite enjoyed it for its magic-based premise, which led to some pretty darn cool visual moments. As someone who grew up with the Harry Potter films (which is a fitting reference by the way considering that Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, stars in the sequel), I’ve always liked the concept of magic and quite enjoyed the idea of a heist film about magicians, which probably explains why I ended up liking the film as much as I did. And as for the sequel, it actually manages to outdo its predecessor. Not only does this film benefit from a much more energetic feel, both in terms of pacing and its overall tone, but the fact that the film spends more time on the Horsemen and doesn’t try to split focus up between them and the FBI actually helps give the main characters, and the film as a whole, more dimension. Sure at the end of the day the film may still be a bit predictable at times and you’ll probably notice some major plot-holes if you really start to analyze the plot. But thanks to Chu’s confident direction and a stronger sense of kinetic energy, Now You See Me 2 ends up being not only another highly entertaining magic-themed caper but also a superior sequel in almost every way. So in other words, if you didn’t like the first Now You See Me, there’s a good chance you might actually like this one more.

Rating: 4.5/5