Now You See Me has some magical acting and is a mostly fun movie

People have always been fascinated with mystery and the supernatural, sometimes seeking explanations for the mere facts of life before we knew better, like the myths and lore of old. But it’s more than that. Despite the rise and fall of skepticism and rationalism over the years, there will always be those who believe in something … else. When a magician can perform acts that seem impossible and wondrous, your breath catches in your throat and you don’t believe your eyes. Except that for a single, small moment you aren’t sure if it’s all … real. Nowadays things are a bit different from the pure naivete of audiences from years back; we expect that it’s all a trick, to the point (made by many fantasy and sci-fi properties) that we will always expect a “rational” explanation no matter how ridiculous or awesome the sight is we behold. Magic … it’s cheesy, but it’s fun. And mysterious.

Now You See Me is a few things at once, but it’s primarily a sort of idealistic “heist” movie where there are two groups of people, neither incompetent, but working against each other … or is it a twist???? There are a lot of twists in the movie, some predictable, some shocking, some stupid, but mostly pretty fun. The movie gets going when four relatively obscure magicians (arrogant Jesse Eisenberg, former partner Isla Fisher, aging mentalist Woody Harrelson, and sleight of hand expert Dave Franco) become an extremely and suspiciously successful Vegas act without doing anything at all, aided by their rich benefactor played by Michael Caine. When a bunch of money gets mysteriously stolen from a French bank connected to the show, it’s up to FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) to figure things out. But as he’s unfamiliar with magic, he’s aided by a “who knows which side he’s on?” Morgan Freeman playing a former magician that exposes secrets on TV, and Interpol agent that knows a lot about magic, Alma Dray (played by Mélanie Laurent). So it’s sort of a race at that point, action, misdirection, and fun little bits of real and CGI-assisted magic trickery abound.

Sure, the constant refrains of “but it was really something else” may become a bit tiresome, but when you are legitimately surprised by an enjoyable twist it can make up for a lot of the dull bits. The story is fairly straightforward when you get down to it, but the acting is just great throughout. Mark Ruffalo is his scruffy best here, Jesse Eisenberg plays a condescending jerk like no other, Isla Fisher is charming, Woody Harrelson has a roguish, rugged charm and Dave Franco is the classic young fool. And of course, Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman. The movie moves at a pretty fast pace but it’s a tad too long, with a few scenes that seem unnecessary. Naturally, discussing the specifics of the plot is mostly pointless, as the fun is in the reveals. Does it all make sense? Not really. Is the ending a bit weak? Sure.

But is the movie a fun, classic “heist” style good time? Yeah, pretty much.