Now You See Me (2013)
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Critics Consensus: Now You See Me's thinly sketched characters and scattered plot rely on sleight of hand from the director to distract audiences.
Critics Consensus: Now You See Me's thinly sketched characters and scattered plot rely on sleight of hand from the director to distract audiences.
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Movie Info
NOW YOU SEE ME pits an elite FBI squad in a game of cat and mouse against "The Four Horsemen", a super-team of the world's greatest illusionists. "The Four Horsemen" pull off a series of daring heists against corrupt business leaders during their performances, showering the stolen profits on their audiences while staying one step ahead of the law. (c) Summit/Lionsgate- Rating:
- PG-13 (for language, some action and sexual content)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense
- Directed By:
- Louis Leterrier
- Written By:
- Boaz Yakin , Edward Ricourt , Ed Solomon , Josh Applebaum , André Nemec
- In Theaters:
- May 31, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Sep 3, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $117.7M
Cast
-
Jesse Eisenberg
as J. Daniel Atlas -
Dave Franco
as Jack Wilder -
Morgan Freeman
as Thaddeus Bradley -
Mark Ruffalo
as Dylan Rhodes -
Woody Harrelson
as Merritt McKinney -
Isla Fisher
as Henley Reeves
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RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Now You See Me, Sharknado, and More
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Now You See Me Videos
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Critic Reviews for Now You See Me
All Critics (149) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (74) | Rotten (75) | DVD (1)
Bustling, glittery, uninvolving.
Complicated nonsense about four professional magicians caught up in an elaborate revenge plot.
If you're OK with the film playing you for a sap, you'll laugh and clap and wonder how that bird got into that hat. But if you think there's a difference between being tricked and being cheated, you may feel swindled.
Leterrier also tries to pack an extraordinary amount of story and twists into a fairly ordinary running time, resulting in editing so choppy that sometimes even the easy parts are hard to follow.
This would-be "Ocean's Eleven" of the magic world remains watchable throughout, even as it plods along without ever quite fulfilling its potential.
One of those movies with a terrific premise and a less-than-terrific follow-through.
Now You See Me is a slick crime caper that works because of its witty dialogue & large cast, but falls flat due to a finale that fails to leave any sort of magical impression
Clever, original, wildly improbable, wildly enjoyable and directed with all the necessary flash and dazzle, the film combines the pleasure of a well-engineered heist movie with a twisty-turny plot full of wit, double-takes and sleight-of-camera.
This surprisingly witty, deliciously well-played and sneakily subversive outing from director Louis Letterier freaks out a little into its final act but, nevertheless, ranks as one of the year's most entertaining pics.
Like a real magic show, Now You See Me is thoroughly entertaining for the most part, but is ultimately silly and substanceless.
If you are going to avail yourself to two of hours slight of hand and slippery conjuring, you are going to have to be willing to believe the unbelievable to fully enjoy the show.
Abracadabra! The character development has vanished! But the flowers are still standing!
The opening credits roll, the stage is set and then SHAZAM... all sense of logic magically disappears.
Ocean's Eleven for Gen-Y; it's a 'pop heist movie' that's more concerned with looking cool than being it.
Seductive with its opening magic show delivering fabulous illusion, Now You See Me has a bit of Ocean's 11 at its heart. It's somewhat darker, and it's that darkness that gives it texture
A hugely enjoyable thriller, whose sleight of hand is both audacious and ambitious, Louis Leterrier's film is considerable in scale and daring
Hollywood bombast masquerading as something trickier.
Now You See Me puts the fun back in being fooled.
If you look at the film as escapist fare where you just go: 'My brain's off, you got a good cast, you got a good concept, roll with it' -- I think you'll be fine.
Audiences go to magic shows to get fooled, but that doesn't mean they want to leave feeling cheated.
The story moves jauntily toward its destination; the destination, unfortunately, is a disappointing wreck.
Surprisingly delightful audience entertainment, unburdened by overzealous special effects and loud soundtrack cues and driven by a story that, well, just likes the idea of being smart.
Now You See Me is a picture that lays all of its cards on the table, only to uncover one or two jokers in the pack.
A fairly unmagical couple of hours at the cinema.
The idea of magicians conducting a series of heists is a great one, but this under-developed film never quite seizes the opportunity. Even its terrific A-list cast can't make much of the lame plot.
Ignore the gaping plot holes and Now You See Me all comes together in gloriously silly fashion.
Audience Reviews for Now You See Me
With an elusive and interesting cast, a thrilling plot, and a lot of suspense built up until the inevitable end, this film should be praised for its innovation and use of magic to further its plot. Still, though it has an element of suspense that keeps us watching with baited breath, it doesn't deliver on all its contrivances. The ensemble cast sometimes entertains (especially Morgan Freeman as the elusive man behind shattering others' expectations) but the characters are so flat and boring that the actors can't work with this level of stilted dialogue. There's this thrown in romance between Rhodes (Ruffalo) and Dray (Laurent) that feels so alien and unneeded that it somewhat throws the rest of the plot into chaos and undermines the characters, who are so flat and unyielding that you could steam roll right over them. Magic is what makes this film tolerable and suspenseful throughout, wondering how each illusion is performed and whether or not the Four Horsemen will get away. The ending is what ruffles people the wrong way, partially because it's handled horribly, but mostly because it isn't explained all that well. The link between the investigation and the rest of the story is tenuous and we're unsure of the relevance of the vendetta that enacts the entire plan. In the end you feel invalidated by the film, and the colossal misgivings of how the ending is handled.
MoreSuper Reviewer
As can be seen, critics did not like it, but look at the "general" ratings! lol Some movies are simply designed to entertain and this movie sure did that! Or was I just part of the illusion? lol
MoreSuper Reviewer
When it comes to summer movies, this is about as good as it gets. We got to the movies to be entertained and lose ourselves for 2 hours for a price of an admission ticket. I can say without flinching that this was totally worth it.
The film was so much more enjoyable than I thought it would be from watching the trailers. It has a lot of wit, clever plot, suspense, magic, humor, twists, and action. It has something for everybody. The acting was great overall and I really liked the characters. In my mind 3 people stuck out. Mark ruffalo, Morgan freeman, and woody harrelson. They were great.
Overall I was surprised at how good the story was. Sure it won't win any Oscars but it takes a road at the end that nobody would see coming. It makes you want to go back and see it twice to understand it better, and just like all magic tricks, some of it can't be explained and you are left with no answer but to believe that what you saw was true. And to me that's fun 5 stars 12-14-13
Super Reviewer
Stylish and entertaining. Generally, the acting was good -- with the usual, notable exception of Woody Harrelson and the typically lackluster Mark Ruffalo.
MoreSuper Reviewer
Now You See Me Quotes
- J. Daniel Atlas:
- The closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see.
- Jack Wilder:
- Nothing's ever locked.
- Dylan Rhodes:
- I will be all over you like...
- J. Daniel Atlas:
- ..like white on rice.
- Merritt McKinney:
- When I first me you, I thought you were kind of a dick.
- J. Daniel Atlas:
- I'm touched.
- Merritt McKinney:
- Yeah. Just from the heart.
- J. Daniel Atlas:
- Well, I didn't tell you where I was touched.
- Merritt McKinney:
- Oh. You!
- Jack Wilder:
- We are the four horsemen.
- Thaddeus Bradley:
- The more you think you see, the less you'll actually notice
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