After the success of Now You See Me and its much-loved sequel, the third instalment of the popular heist franchise had big shoes to fill—how, after nearly ten years, do you return with the same cast and remain fresh? Or better still, make middle-aged magicians cool?
With that in mind, you might then consider the concept of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t somewhat ambitious, given the familiar ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco. The film sees the original lineup of Four Horsemen magicians on a Robin Hood quest once again as they seek to topple a Rosamund Pike-led criminal enterprise. They are now joined by a trio of misfit young magicians, who first find themselves accompanying a rather middle-aged Eisenberg to steal the world’s largest diamond (as you do).
At first glance, the film is laudably unafraid to lean into the idea that the original four are no longer the mavericks they used to be. For example, Franco’s character Jack Wilder now performs on cruise ships after the Horsemen have broken up. The story therefore presents itself as a passing of the torch, which you’d hope would provide the film with renewed energy. Unfortunately, this is promptly smothered by an awfully convoluted plot and a seemingly endless supply of clichés. Take Bosco LeRoy, one of the younger magicians, played by Dominic Sessa. His character is mostly limited to an overexaggerated attitude and a cheap joke at the expense of the oldies, the product of which appears to be a lazy repackaging of the schoolboy angst Sessa conveys in The Holdovers. After an absence from the second film, Fisher returns to a lineup consisting of far more women than in 2013. That said, the film’s use of her character is rather one-dimensional—wedding dress one-liners, childcare references, and an escape resting primarily on the use of an engagement ring? What a shame it is to see her character pigeonholed by an unimaginative script.
Damage limitation falls to Woody Harrelson’s Merritt McKinney, who provides the same laughs as before, perhaps because he’s always been the ‘fun uncle’ sort of character. Harrelson and Pike, who is characteristically entertaining, come away as the lucky few whose characters don’t feel forced. The action scenes are also quite exciting—the sleight of hand scenes have long been fan favourites, so it was gratifying to see Dave Franco (also a fan favourite) back in action.
Nevertheless, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t falls short. Beyond the addition of a younger generation (Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, and Justice Smith) and some fun action sequences, it lacks originality—it is wholeheartedly reliant upon recycled plot devices and clings desperately to audience nostalgia for its predecessors. For those left unsatisfied, we can only hope that the planned fourth instalment of the franchise will be more creative.
“Jesse Eisenberg-62192 (cropped)” by Harald Krichel is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.