Movie review by Rashid Irani: the magic touch is missing in Now You See Me

Despite its flashy trappings, viewers are unlikely to surrender to the spell of the on-screen legerdemain. Clues and red herrings abound around every turn as Now You See Me gradually spins itself into a tizzy especially in the plottier second half.

Now You See Me
Direction: Louis Leterrier
Actors: Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher
Rating: **

HT Image

The magic touch has deserted French filmmaker Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans, 2010) for his hokey sleight -of-hand thriller. Despite its flashy trappings, viewers are unlikely to surrender to the spell of the on-screen legerdemain. Clues and red herrings abound around every turn as Now You See Me gradually spins itself into a tizzy especially in the plottier second half.

The caper revolves around a quartet of street hustlers (Eisenberg-Fisher-Dave Franco-Woody Harrelson) reunited by a mysterious benefactor. Billing themselves as “The Four Horsemen”, the troupe pulls off a spectacular heist in front of a live audience at a hotel in Las Vegas.

In a matter of seconds they engineer the robbery of millions of euros from a bank vault in Paris and then shower the audience with the pilfered currency. Go figure. Their Robin Hood-esque antics don’t go down well with the law enforcement agencies.

Partnered with a rookie Interpol cop (Melanie Laurent), a hyper FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) is determined to nail the supercilious criminals. The mismatched detectives aren’t the only ones on the case, though. A former magician turned debunker of prestidigitation (Morgan Freeman) is involved in professional rivalry with a millionaire promoter (Michael Caine).