Now You See Me (7/10)

by Tony Medley

Runtime 116 minutes.

OK for children.

This is a complex thriller starring Mark Ruffalo as FBI Special Agent Dylan Rhodes trying to stop a magic super-group led by J Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), who is joined by Merit McKinney (Woody Harrelson) Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and they perform one dazzling caper after another.

Director Lewis Leterrier has produced an eye-popping film notable for exceptional production values. He is ably abetted by cinematographers Larry Fong and Mitchell Amundson. While the magic shown in the film is as incomprehensible as it must be to be entertaining, what makes this film entertaining throughout is that it is a visual tour de force.

The acting is first class, and it is made even better by veterans Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, both of whom add their charm to the magic. Mélanie Laurent adds a nice performance as an Interpol agent with whom Ruffalo is reluctantly forced to partner.

This is the second film this year about magic. The first, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, was a dismal failure. This, however, uses magic as the basis for an ingenious heist flick, and it works.

Although CGI is always available and suspected for a movie like this, the filmmakers made a major effort to keep as many of the elements in the tricks as possible in-camera.

How the group pulls off what it does is, well, magic. But the twist in the movie is well hidden and comes as a nice surprise at the end.

While it runs a little long, the fine acting by the outstanding cast and the high production values make this an entertaining trip.