Technical Assessment: 3.5
Moral Assessment: 2
CINEM Rating: V14
Four
street magicians, Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher),
Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Merritt McKinley (Woody Harrelson) get recruited
by an unknown benefactor from the elitist magicians’ circle called The Eye. A
year later, the four, now known as the The Four Horsemen, are in a sold-out act
in Las Vegas and end their performance with a bank heist involving one from the
audience. The FBI led by agent
Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol newbie Alma Vargas (Melanie Laurent) arrest
the The Four Horsemen but let them go for lack of evidence. Meanwhile, ex-magician and now a
professional magic debunker and television show host, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan
Freeman), secretly films The Four Horsemen in the hope of exposing them and
gaining five million dollars. He explains to Rhodes how the robbery was
actually planned and executed days ago. Between the The Four Horsemen
performing one heist after another, Rhodes trying to outsmart them, Bradley
hoping to make more millions, a secret is exposed to explain the magic and the
real purpose behind it.
The caper
movie is both entertaining and engaging with solid performances, a dynamic
cinematography, appealing score and decent design. But the substance is as
magical as its premise—it defies logic and reason. There is some good premise
behind the attempt to present a fresh storyline and keep the audience guessing
who the fifth horseman is. There are good cinematic tricks passed on as magic
but then again, this is the movies, so spellbinding the audience may not be
exactly effective. To get your
money’s worth from whatever Now you see
me has to offer—a powerhouse cast performing with flair to engage the
viewer in this fast-paced whodunit film—you have to let hyourself be entranced
by its magic, enter the realm of illusion, hear the “dis-illusioning” as well—for
in the end, when it’s time for the 5th Horseman to be seen, you’ll
also see that the magic is but part of the story, that the story has a
mastermind, and that this mastermind’s motivation is far from moral.
Revenge is
never moral. Now you see me treads on the same dangers as most caper films—glorifying
the cunning of thieves and saluting a brilliant deception. For the four magicians, it’s all in a
day’s work—they do not even know who their boss is, much less his or her
intentions. They are earning a
living from what they do best. And
they are just as surprised as the movie audience when their boss’ identity is revealed. It is the 5th Horseman who
defies morality and legality in the name of “justice”. Now
you see me encourages people who have the means to go after the bad guys in
whatever way they can, regardless of who gets hurt or what laws are broken. The movie is not just a cute movie; it
is twice immoral: in what has been done, and in keeping it a secret by the only
one who has heard of it.
