Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025 | US | 112 minutes | Ruben Fleischer)
Bosco (Dominic Sessa), June (Ariana Greenblatt) and Charlie (Justice Smith) are three aspiring magicians garnering for attention and wishing to follow in their idols’ footsteps by give back to those in need as the Four Horsemen did. As a matter of fact, they used the very image of the Horsemen themselves to draw crowds and ensnare the douchebags they want to rebuke. Despite their best efforts to hide in the shadows outside of the public performances, Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) appears to give them hell. They end up convincing him to join forces (you always gotta have at least four). The three up-and-comers have their sites set on a real-life villain, a second-generation apartheid exploiter and diamond mine owner Veronika Venderberg (Rosamund Pike).
The story progresses through witty and sly plans both succeeding and then failing just enough for the old team to come to the rescue (including Lula, the new addition from installment two craftily portrayed by Lizzy Caplan). With all the effort and cunning they can muster, a master plan is hatched and with the help of some friends (including the great and mysterious organization The Eye and Morgan Freeman’s Thaddeus Bradley) they attempt to pull off their most daring heist yet.
If you haven’t seen the first two installments of the Now You See Me franchise, it’s better if you catch up on those before seeing number three. We find ourselves a few years in the future with a new team of three young bucks up to the same antics in the name of the original quintet. Not quite as fast-paced as the first film, but with just as many misdirected tricks up their sleeves in the name of the brotherhood of magic and the greater good.
As with the original four, each of the new members has their own back story that brings you a little closer to understanding why they prefer trickery and thrive on distrust. However, we only scratch the surface for each, which preps for the big twisty reveal at the end (yes, there’s a twist, but you probably knew that if you’ve watched either of the other films). It’s really fun and if you like illusion tricks, misdirection and occasional witty banter then you’ll have a great time with this film. For me personally, the cheese factor was so overwhelming I found myself snickering for a majority of the film at how terrible the lines and incredulous the circumstances were. To be fair, there were a few one-liners that were incredible. Like I really wanted to write them down so I could reference them another time. Unfortunately that didn’t make up for the cringe factor it held, so I can’t bare to give it a higher rating.
All being said and done, if you want to see a fun film with the family that isn’t filled with sex or violence, this is a great option. Just be ready to groan at some ult-dad level jokes in the process.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t arrives in theaters this weekend