Reel Review: Now You See Me, Now You Don’t Reinvigorates the Decade Old Franchise

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is a franchise that is known for being straight up fun. If you don’t take it too seriously, the movies can be a damn good time, even if they don’t always make a ton of logical sense. However, the new installment in the franchise has brought it a new life, and a new audience. By bringing in a new, young group of magicians, the horsemen are able to accomplish their biggest trick yet.

The new trio including Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblat, and Justice Smith have drawn in a new audience by targeting gen z. Their credits are widely diverse and in theory don’t match up, but in this film they balance each other out in a beautiful way by each playing to their strengths. In some films, the young cast might fall second to legacy actors, but here they hold their own.

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman and Lizzy Caplan all return and reunite in order to take down Veronika Vanderberg, played by Rosamund Pike. At some points, it can feel a bit like there are too many cooks in the kitchen, but the editing and writing structure allow each of them to have at least one standout moment. Rosamund Pike however, does steal the show with a unique and captivating accent that you cannot quite place, but fits well into her villain persona.

The plot of the new film does feel eerily similar to its earlier iterations, but then again, how many crimes can be solved simply by magic? At times it can feel repetitive, especially since some of the newcomers have the same skills as the legacy magicians, but it’s never not entertaining. The pacing is quick and rarely slows down to let you attempt to solve how they pull of their tricks.

While it would have been nice to see more practical magic instead of CGI executed tricks, it didn’t take away from the overall spectacle. The inclusion of each character served a direct purpose, even if it was just to check a box of including all of the original members. The new cast, especially Dominic Sessa steal the show. His unrelenting charm and indifferent attitude add a new layer to many dynamics, keeping things interesting. While Now You See Me, Now You Don’t doesn’t invent any new tricks, it does a great job of servicing new and returning fans.

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is playing in theaters now.