The Now You See Me franchise has been making magic cool again since 2013. And now, the third installment in the franchise proves that these movies are always going to be a fun time for audiences.
J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) and his family of magicians love to steal from the rich and give to the less fortunate in our beautiful magical Robin Hood story. And with Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, fans get to see how the story of the Four Horsemen have inspired the masses and, more specifically, the next generation.
Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa), and June (Ariana Greenblatt) are three young magicians who take matters into their own hands when the Horsemen vanish. But the problem with pretending to be the greatest magicians around is that they will come to see who is doing this. Atlas goes to find the trio, the four get into a new case, and the rest is kind of Now You See Me history.
The Ruben Fleischer directed film is very much the same kind of format as the first two films. There’s a big rich person that the Horsemen are trying to take down, they use magic tricks to get all the information they need, and we see how it plays out throughout the film’s less than two hour runtime.
But Fleischer uses what we know about this franchise to his advantage. Audiences should still be captivated by the magic laid out, especially with how this movie uses the set up of magic tricks to its advantage. As Now You See Me 2 did, the third film allows the history of magic to play a big part in the film as a whole and it makes it a stronger illusion for audiences to enjoy.
Family is the people you choose to do magic with
One of the central themes throughout the entire franchise has been the Horsemen all together and Now You See Me, Now You Don’t keeps that alive. June, Bosco, and Charlie are family to each other and even if Atlas, Jack (Dave Franco), Merritt (Woody Harrelson), and Henley (Isla Fisher) might not start off all together, they’re all still a family to one another.
And that is, ultimately, why these movies work. Yes, the magic tricks are part of the charm. But it really is the magic of finding people you love and who love you that aren’t flesh and blood that makes the Now You See Me movies so much fun. Well…that and watching Dave Franco throw cards around.
It isn’t necessarily a movie that passes the baton of the franchise on to a younger group of magicians but rather a movie that allows fans to see how this world can grow and that makes it fun. Why not allow the Horsemen to grow?
If you love this franchise for the fun magic tricks and the sometimes cheesy jokes, you’re in for a great time and hey, what if we make more of these movies just for fun? Now You See Me, Now You Don’t is in theaters on November 14.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
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