The "Four Horsemen" are more masters of illusion than magicians in this crime thriller; showcasing a vast amount of trickery and slight-of-hand. "The more you look, the less you see" is something we're told on multiple occasions by the big headed Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenburg), one of the "Four Horsemen" who are seemingly selected to group together to create one big magical act. From the start we follow an FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) who is paired with a seemingly suspicious interpol detective (Mélanie Laurent) who seem to be in for the chase of their lives as they're paired with the case of catching the true bank robbers; along with a little help from Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) an ex magician who has changed his ways and started a TV show to expose magicians and tell the world the secrets of their tricks.
In the opening sequence it introduces the "Four Horsemen" - Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenburg), Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) - and shows them preforming to their different array of audience types before being handed mysterious cards that all point them to the same place. They are then reborn 1 year later as the "Four Horsemen" who have come together for a 'one night only' showcase in Las Vegas.
Unfortunately the film becomes a little lost with the many plot holes and seems to feel the need to dazzle the audience with nonsensical plot twists and their unconvincing explainations. It then makes it harder to laugh at the Horsemen's arrogant banter and harder to care about Dylan Rhodes' (Mark Ruffalo) predicable relationship with the french interpol detective. Along with the relentless high speed chases and excessive camera swooping the third act is left a mess of unexplained actions rather than the well-executed finale I expected it to be.
I'm not saying though that I didn't enjoy this film - actually it is quite the opposite. I have always been a lover of magic and with this film being more about slight-of-hand than unrealistic miracle feats it keeps the audience guessing and trying to figure out what really happened; who did it and what will happen next. With the seemingly unconnected crimes they commit following a Robin Hood-esque kind of pattern; "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor" it leaves the FBI (and the audience) trying to figure out why. This film gives nothing away about the true ending to prepare so be amazed, shocked and left speechless.
I understand that this may not be everyone's cup of tea but I can see 'Now You See Me' becoming one of my all time favourites. It's kind of like Donnie Darko and Inception in the sense that you feel like you need to watch it over and over to look for signs of the last plot twist.
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