“Continuing in the year’s tradition of sequels that nobody asked for, we arrive at Now You See Me 2. I was completely shaking my head at the idea (though that didn’t stop me from adding it to my watch list), but within the first five minutes or so, the fun of it reminded me how much fun I had the first time around. Not that the sequel really added a whole lot to it. I think it might have been just as fun to rewatch the first, save myself the 10 bucks, and get to sleep at a decent hour.
So the Four Horsemen, the underground magicians known for their robin hood type illegal yet charitable act, are back. Well sort of back. Isla Fisher (who was pregnant at the time of filming) was replaced by Lizzy Caplan, and Mark Ruffalo is fully on board with the team now. And this time they’re facing off against Daniel Radcliffe, an eccentric rich guy who lives in the shadows and wants the horsemen to steal some technology to keep him off the grid.
Here’s a good time for a sidebar. Radcliffe was the one thing that had me excited for the film. For one, I just love him. But for two, I love the idea that the world’s most famous magical actor would join a film about magicians, as a rather bad magician himself. They could have played that up more though. Apparently the question came up in multiple interviews with the cast if Radcliffe taught any of them magic *facepalm*.
Yeah so again, it was fun. There was a decent amount of suspense (I hadn’t realized I held my breath thru all of one particularly intense sequence involving some expert sleight of hand, until I released my breath after). I think they did a better job of using practical effects instead of relying as much on digital magic or film tricks as before. Still, I think my previous statement holds. Not sure that this was worth its existence in this world, but at least I enjoyed the visit.
Now You See Me 2 – \m/ \m/ \m/”