★
The band of renegade magicians known as the Four Horsemen may have returned to the limelight, but their bag of magic tricks is far from full.
Having gone into hiding at the end of the last film, they return for Now You See Me 2 with a new mission to oust yet another high-profile villain. Only they are foiled at their own game by another villain, who is recruiting them for a different mission. Are you following yet? Neither is the person next to you who, by the way, didn’t see the first film either and is now struggling to piece together the backstory this sequel relies so heavily on, yet reveals so little of.
Cue confusion.
Like its characters, a band of egotistical magicians, this second instalment to the franchise is too big for its britches. Its overblown cast of A-list names is a dead giveaway to this, with Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franco all lending their names, though not their talents, to the film. Throw in Daniel Radcliffe and a token female (Lizzy Caplan), and fan service and gender equality are ticked off the Hollywood blockbuster checklist, too.
But all the pomp and pizzazz doesn’t stop there. Adding more excess to this film’s ego are drawn-out fight scenes and over-choreographed magic sequences, both of which serve no purpose other than to make you realise that you’ve paid a high price for some cheap glitter.
As far as sequels go, Now You See Me 2 is everything its predecessor wasn’t. Where the first instalment drew on influences like Ocean’s Eleven and The Usual Suspects, sitting deservedly inside the crime-mystery genre with just enough plot twists to keep us tickled, this follow-up plays closer to Rush Hour and Zoolander, preferring excessive action, farce and cheap tricks to win our attention.
Even if it tried (and it doesn’t), this flick cannot pull the wool over our eyes slowly enough. Its continuous attempts to outwit with fancy twists and turns are its own self-sabotage, as the film becomes so exhaustingly predictable that every scene is less remarkable than the last.
Go in expecting smoke and mirrors, because you won’t find any magic here.
Now You See Me 2is in cinemas now.
