Normally, suspension of disbelief can suffice to maximize one's viewing pleasure in illusionist films, which tend to capitalize on showmanship to camouflage the many plot holes of the story. However, the second act of the 2013 surprise hit, Now You See Me, requires a brain entirely shut off for one to endure the film 'till the end and still enjoy it. While the magical heists in Now You See Me 2 do reach new heights, they are spoiled with twists and turns that fail to make any lick of sense.
Picking up a year after last year's heist, the film finds the remaining members of The Four Horsemen–illusionist J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and street magician Jack Wilder (Dave Franco)–laying low and awaiting further instructions from The Eye, the secret society of magicians they've been recruited into. F.B.I. mole/ringleader Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) regroups them along with a new "horsewoman", fake- violence specialist Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), to expose a corrupt businessman planning to launch a device that is claimed to be the "key to every computer system on the planet." Meanwhile, tech mogul Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe) wants the device for himself and bends the will of our rogue tricksters to pull off their toughest stunt yet in exchange for their freedom. Clueless as to his team's whereabouts, Dylan is left with no choice but to ask for the help of Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a scheming magic debunker who he framed in the first film and who also happens to be plotting his revenge against the horsemen in ways they couldn't expect.
Director Jon Chu maintains the sleek look and fast pace of the first film, showcasing, this time, more of the heists than the magic. Here, the magicians seem to have graduated from Robin Hoods showering cash to their audiences but to corporate whistleblowers using their illusions for a greater purpose. The plot itself involves more infiltration and theft that can be found in a Mission Impossible film, making the lack of real-life magical spectacle more glaring. Chu and screenwriter Ed Solomon, however, hurts the film's credibility and betrays the profession by using "magic" that mostly passes here as "cheating-using-Hollywood-special-effects-and-wildly- implausible-writing-not-even-David-Blaine-can-accomplish." That being said, there are two kinds of magic tricks here: tricks they don't try to explain and tricks they agonizingly try to explain and you wish they haven't.
The problem with Now You See Mee 2 is the same one that dogged its predecessor: It is more interested in theatrics than logic. Alas, not even a sleight-of-hand can obscure the trouble that brews in its already convoluted plot which for certain will be shoved with more swords in the future installment. "Look closely because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see." Well, if you step back a bit, you're not actually being fooled but you're being scammed. Tah-dah!!!
Full review: http://www.filmpolicereviews.com/reviews/now-you-see-me-2
