Now You See Me: Now You Don’t Is Just The Blockbuster We Need Right Now
The silliest franchise of the 2010s returns when we need it the most.
“The closer they look, the less they’ll actually see.” It’s the mantra that’s become a guiding principle for the Now You See Me franchise, and it applies as much to the various goons hunting the Four Horsemen — the ragtag group of magicians who also pull off elaborate heists — as it does to the audience looking for meaning within this trilogy. It doesn’t get much sillier than Now You See Me, a relic of noughties blockbuster filmmaking that has, somehow, managed to defy its own demise at every turn. That we’re getting a third film nearly 10 years after its last is a magic trick unto itself, an upset that shouldn’t work... and, admittedly, almost doesn’t.
After the mixed bag that was Now You See Me 2, this franchise has a lot to make up for. Its last sequel was an overwrought attempt to tell a bigger, better story: the answer to the Fast and the Furious saga for magic nerds. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has those same ambitions, and it’s likewise pulling out all the stops to get there. It’s just as corny, far-fetched, and chaotic as the films that precede it, with a dizzying plot that makes less sense the more you think about it. But those who found anything to love in this franchise before know not to analyze this caper too closely. Now You See Me 3 is genuinely fun — but you might have to turn your brain off to enjoy it.
Years after their last mission in Now You See Me 2, the Horsemen have all but disbanded, but they’re no less adored. Clandestine shows still draw a modest crowd — even if the Horsemen aren’t actually in attendance. A new generation of magicians has since taken up their “steal from the rich” schtick, impersonating illusionist J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), card-slinging rogue Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) to run their own cons. It’s not clear exactly how they manage to recreated their likenesses: it’s the first of many uncanny tricks that goes unexplained, but once the real Atlas grows wise to the scam, he pops up to recruit Charlie (Justice Smith), Boscoe (Dominic Sessa), and June (Ariana Greenblatt) into the big leagues.
Now You See Me 3 (which is practically begging to be called Now You 3 Me) knows that most of us have questions. Why did the Horsemen break up? What’s the deal with the Eye, the organization that’s essentially the Illuminati for magic thieves? And what happened to Dylan Shrike (Mark Ruffalo), the Horsemen’s Nick Fury? Answers eventually come in the form of quickfire, throwaway exposition dumps, because Now You See Me 3 also knows that we really just want to get the band back together. It’s amusing enough to watch Atlas, already a curmudgeon in his own right, babysit a group of upstart magicians. (Boscoe, who’s every bit a Gen Z clone of Atlas, gives him the biggest and most entertaining run for his money.) Their quest to take down Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike, but make her South African), leader of a diamond-mining empire, is also a welcome development, splitting the difference between the homegrown theatrics of the first Now You See Me with its global aspirations. But this film really sings once Horsemen new and old form a united front.
Bringing in new and old Horsemen to the lineup is an inspired choice.
One of the best tricks up this story’s sleeve is the return of Fisher’s Henley, who missed out on Now You See Me 2 and was replaced by a new character played by Lizzy Caplan. Restoring the old Horsemen line-up goes a long way in smoothing over past mistakes, but Now You See Me 3 is not interested in retconning or rebooting. As easy as it might have been to write off whole plot points as an elaborate trick, director Ruben Fleischer is keen to take a holistic look at this franchise. It’s a complex mechanism, for all its trite storytelling tactics: take one piece out of the equation and it kind of falls apart. It needs everything — even stilted dialogue and predictable twists — to work, and it’s well aware of that this go ‘round.
More is more in Now You See Me 3, if only because constant momentum, constant moving pieces, and constant misdirections keep us from poking holes in any of the proceedings. There is plenty to like here, especially when it’s more about the magic or the Horsemen’s dysfunction than the heist. An extended sequence in what is essentially one giant funhouse — complete with upside-down rooms, secret passageways, and fake portraits — gives us plenty of the former. The OG Horsemen and their new recruits work together to solve puzzles that quaintly excavate their inner hangups, like Charlie’s self-doubt, for example, or Atlas’ undying arrogance. This franchise can be deep when it wants to be, but the fact that it can also pivot into an impromptu rizz-off, with each Horseman striving to one-up the other with card tricks and disappearing acts (complete with a thousand different iterations of “Huh, not bad, kid — but watch this!”) makes Now You See Me 3 a true treasure.
With a clever, compelling heist, Now You See Me 3 strikes an ideal balance.
It’s true, these films can be really dumb. But they can also be great fun; given how humorless and how unbearably safe major blockbusters have been in recent years, this brand of fun is a little like rain in a desert. One character says as much early in the film — after “wars, pandemics,” and various, vaguely-defined traumas, “you need magic more than ever.” Now You See Me 3 isn’t going to fix any of the serious stuff overnight: with a handful of plot holes and big swings that don’t quite land, it has its own problems. But also, it doesn’t really have to. Sometimes it’s enough to watch an impossible trick pulled off by a bunch of charismatic performers without thinking of the how or why.
