By the end, it got me. I’ve never been a particular fan of the “Now You See Me” franchise, but based on the massive box office returns for its two previous movies — nearly $352 million for the 2013 original, almost $335 million for its 2016 sequel — I’ve been living in the minority for awhile. More than 10 years on from its first film, and the franchise is making a bid to be more relevant than ever. Well, sort of.
There will surely be those who balk at the heart of Ruben Fleischer’s first foray into the franchise (though it marks a return to his movie-making with stars Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson), which follows a pack of wily magicians with a Robin Hood complex who ultimately decide to take on the daughter of a Nazi war criminal (“woke!!,” some might yell, and please, rethink your entire life if that’s your beef), but that natty bit of altruism has always been at the center of this franchise. And while “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” does lean way harder into the Gen-Z of it all than its predecessors, that’s less a case of trying to be hip and more an attempt to be literally current.
The result: a fine enough third entry into the series that nakedly attempts to build out the ranks of its magicians with both a) returning stars (including some surprises we won’t spoil here) and b) youngsters eager to ascend the upper echelon of theft-based magic. It’s much more “Fast and Furious” than most might expect, but that clear bid to set up the franchise for further success (a sequel is already in development) is both obvious and charming, like a little kid trying out his first magic trick. Occasional shakiness is to be expected; after all, this third film is more of a bridge between past and future than some might like, but old fans will be charmed and even newbies like me can see the sparkle.
We can also see the sleight of hand, mostly because of the basic structure of the film’s many tricks and gags, which hinge on oohh-ahhh showmanship straight into winking sequences that show how the whole thing was pulled off. It’s like “Ocean’s Eleven,” but if we saw the makings of every scheme in real time. That also means that, while the film will certainly appeal to long-time aficionados, it’s also a fine enough entry for newbies. The fourth film in the series will likely be better — all that table setting can be out of the way — but “Now You Don’t” functions just fine on its own.
Suspend your disbelief early, as the film (with a script from Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick & Rhett Reese, and Seth Grahame-Smith, based on a story by Eric Warren Singer and Lesslie) opens with a real wild card. Consider this: it’s 2025 and the hottest event in Bushwick, Brooklyn is a semi-secret magic show featuring The Four Horsemen (Eisenberg, Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco) in which the long-dormant magicians are greeted as nothing short of rock stars. The young-skewing crowd couldn’t be more thrilled to see the foursome, who dropped off years ago and now seem to (suddenly? awkwardly? bizarrely?) be back on the hunt for bad guys they can scam and audiences they can delight.
Of course, nothing is quite as it seems (magic!), and the show is eventually revealed to be a scrappily-produced joint, hosted by a trio of young magicians (Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Arianna Greenblatt, all solid additions) with their own Horsemen-like obsessions. But J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) doesn’t totally dig copyright infringement (hello, he’s literally a crime-fighting magician), and when he ends up busting the young trio, he’s got a hell of an offer to distract them. What if, the amusingly egotistical former leader asks, they join him on a mission? Sure! (Otherwise, there’s no movie here.)
Despite the years of material the film needs to fill in, its large cast of screenwriters keeps a lot of exposition admirably economical (well, until the finale). No, Danny doesn’t roll with the original Horsemen anymore. Yes, something bad happened. Yes, he just received a mysterious tarot card that is pointing him to some diamond-based evil-doing in Antwerp. Yes, it would be nice to have a plucky time of fellow magicians behind him.
The evil-doing in question is simple enough, at least for a franchise that has always been built around the existence of a clandestine organization of magicians (The Eye) who love using their skills to take down bad guys and quite literally share the wealth with their eager audiences. In public life, Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike) is the scion of a massive diamond empire. In reality, she’s, well, she’s about as transparently evil as someone would have to be to be the scion of a massive diamond empire. But she’s got a kicky accent (Swedish chef?) and Pike delights in her, so we can’t help but want to watch her exploits.
When Danny and his new pals crash a Vanderberg event to steal the family’s crown jewel — a massive raw diamond called The Heart — even their best-laid plans aren’t quite good enough, no matter how fun they are to watch. Thank goodness then that the rest of the original Horsemen also all got their own tarot card invites, and arrive just in the nick of time to save Danny and the baby magicians.
What follows is a globe-trotting adventure (half in CGI World, some of it in Abu Dhabi) with a steadily growing cast of characters that, to their and Fleischer’s credit, remain always recognizable, often funny, and mostly enjoyable to watch mix and mingle. The crime-fighting? That’s nice, but the real fun is in the bonding, most of it at the hand of oddly wholesome sequences in which they all try to one-up each other’s magical skills.
I have no idea what a magical French chateau has to do with illegally sourced diamonds and Nazi war crimes, but I’m so glad we get to visit it. I am not sure why throwing cards really hard is a magical skill, but Dave Franco has so much fun doing it. I saw the big twist coming from a mile away, but still clapped when it was revealed. Like I said, it got me! I felt, if not magic, a generous dash of cinematic enchantment. Let’s make four more of these things.
Grade: B-
Lionsgate will release “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” in theaters on Friday, November 14.
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