Now You See Me Now You Don’t – Long Time No See
People have been saying it for years now…Hollywood has run out of ideas and all they are doing now is pumping out sequels. There’s a lot of truth to that. I mean, what was the last truly original blockbuster the big studios have produced? Avatar (2009)? A Quiet Place (2018)? The Matrix (1999)? It’s almost axiomatic that big hits will spawn sequels. It’s baked into the Hollywood money machine, bro. Turns out that Now You See Me Now You Don’t is no exception.
Running out of ideas: the Receipt
Now You See Me Now You Don’t is the third installment of the franchise. The original appeared on the big screen way back in 2013, joining the growing list of franchises that were resurrected more than a decade later. It doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to wait that long for a third installment. The official reason for the gap was ‘scheduling and development’, which I ain’t buying. But whatever. It is what it is.
Remember when David Copperfield flew?
The Average Dude was a big fan of Now You See Me. It doesn’t hurt that I’m a fan of magic, misdirection and illusion. Sure, it’s all very WWE…we know it’s fake but we just don’t care. We love the entertainment value. And BONUS: the Now You See Me franchise has a second payoff that shows you how the magic is made. Some folks absolutely don’t want to peek behind the curtain. I, myself, love seeing how things work.
Guest Reviewer 2.0
So, my awesome dude-friend Drew was in town for a few days and graciously gifted me an evening where we could grab a burger and a show. You may remember that Drew and I saw Superman this past summer and shared our thoughts with all of you here on Average Dude Movie Reviews. We are happy to do it again (and as often as Drew is in town, for that matter).
Without further ado…
AD: I was always going to go see Now You See Me Now You Don’t. My hope was to see new theatrics, new illlusions, new secrets revealed. NYSM3 totally delivered once again.
Drew: I thought it was great. Even though this franchise is also falling into the trap of keep shooting out sequels thing, the movie itself still felt fresh to me. Maybe its cause of how much time they take between each film where when a new one comes out its like “oh yeah, I did like that film. Maybe I’ll enjoy this one.” So its not overkill like we kinda started seeing with something like Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise.
Anyways, story itself was great and I enjoyed the twist. I kept looking for it cause once you’ve seen these movies you know there’s a twist somewhere. I actually think I enjoyed this twist better than in the last film. But that could just be me.
AD:Absolutely. The unforseen twist is a hallmark of the franchise.
It was nice to see Henley’s character return (Isla Fisher). I had actually forgotten that she was replaced in Now You See Me 2. I remembered the basic plot of NYSM2 and that Harry Potter was the villain of the movie. Not a lot else I recalled so it’s no surprise that the franchise faltered. More receipts that bringing it back may have been as much a product of lack of Hollywood courage and imagination as it was public demand.
Dudes that dig the magical red-head
Drew: Isla Fisher coming back was awesome. I didn’t mind Lizzy Caplan taking on the 4th horseman role in the second film. But that character didn’t have the same charisma and magic (haha, see what I did there) as Henley. Lulu was better in this one though.
AD: And Now You See Me Now You Don’t is not really a continuation of the whole ‘Eye’ mythos (which has a kind of Illuminati feel to it) but more of a reboot. A changing of the guard. We’ll see if there is enough interest or desperation to fuel a fourth.
Drew: So I heard rumor that a 4th film was already green lit. I just wonder how long we’ll have to wait. I will say it was slightly disappointing that the Eye was not a huge focal point in this one as the end of the second film they actually were inducted into this organization. So for a fourth film, I would like to see this explored more.
AD: So, what parts worked for you and what didn’t?
Drew: The story like I said felt fresh, the character dynamic was great as well. The new characters I thought did pretty good with the original, however, the new characters I don’t think would’ve been able to hold the movieon their own. But together, I thought they were pretty good. I think they’ve hinted at a few ideas with original and new characters and potentials for spinoffs that I would like to see. Again, I just would like to see them explore the mythos of the Eye more.
AD: I thought the interplay between the original Horsemen and the new blood was carried by the OG. Jesse Eisenberg crushed the role and I can’t imagine it working without his stellar performance. Woody Harrelson is awesome in whatever he does (his small part in 2012 was my favorite part of that movie). James Franco was adequate and Isla Fisher is still the eye candy of the show. The new crew didn’t really land with me all that much. Justice Smith and Ariana Greenblatt were recognizable (barely) but Dominic Sessa was a complete unknown. If this was supposed to be a passing of the torch, it felt clunky.
Now You See M3…the scores
AD: So shoot me a number. You know how we do things here. Out of 5, what do you give Now You See Me Now You Don’t?
Drew: I’d go with a 4 out of 5.
AD: Nice. That’s exactly where I landed. In a year that’s second only to Covid Year 1 in terms of disappointments, getting a score of 4 is high praise. Thanks for stepping in again. It was fun hanging out and doing what dudes do. We’ll definitely do this again (*Note – I’m going to draft him into a guest review for season 1 of ‘The Promised Land’. I just haven’t asked him yet). And just because it’s awesome, here’s a little pic of Drew having a little father-son bonding time that’s too cute not to share. What a smile!
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