Nine years after the last instalment in this Robin-Hood-magicians-pull-off-heists-to-fight-social-injustice series, the gang’s all back (with some new additions) for this surprisingly enjoyable caper that may be the most fun instalment yet.

Premise: J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is sent by “The Eye” to recruit a trio of young magicians – Bosco (Dominic Sessa), Charlie (Justice Smith) and June (Ariana Greenblatt) – for a heist to take down corrupt diamond mogul and money launderer Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike) … but a heist this big may need the rest of “The Horsemen” – Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher).

Review:

I have to confess, the first two films in this series kind of passed me by on release, and I only caught up with them many years later. I thought 2013’s Now You See Me was quite enjoyable with some good twists and turns, even if the plot felt more than a little muddled (for example, the “Four Horsemen” seemed to be blindly following the instructions of “The Eye” without really knowing why, which I thought took away from their agency as characters) – but 2016’s Now You See Me 2 (which I think should have been called “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t”) was a bit of a mess, with the only two real highlights being the scene where they use card sleight of hand to smuggle the computer chip from the vault, and the introduction of Lizzy Caplan as Lula.

So I didn’t come to Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (which I think should have been called “Now You 3 Me”) with particularly high expectations – and I was therefore pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was.

“…delivers on the heists, the twists, and the camaraderie…”

Now don’t get me wrong, the plot is still a little bit all over the place – the worst examples being the inelegant and unnecessary way in which Morgan Freeman‘s character Thaddeus Bradley is shoehorned back into the story, or the way that the plot is all but resolved halfway through the movie and so the writers are forced to invent new problems. But audiences don’t come to these films for the plot, they come for the heists, the twists, and the camaraderie between the characters, and in fairness, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t delivers on those three key areas.

I (obviously) won’t go into the plot twists here, but suffice to say that I certainly didn’t seen them coming, but like all good plot twists, they seem obvious after the event – so hats off to the writers for pulling those off. As for the heists, these were also very well executed, the highlight being a heist to steal the world’s largest diamond from inside a locked security case in front of a room full of armed guards and the diamond’s owner, played with visible glee by Rosamund Pike who appears to be channelling her inner Cruella de Vil…

“…there’s a real buzz in seeing them all back together again…”

In terms of the chemistry between the cast, this movie feels like a sequel/reboot hybrid, because not only does it feature the return of all of the original Horsemen (in more than just a cameo capacity), but it also introduces a new, younger crew – Bosco (Dominic Sessa), an illusionist with a talent for impressions, June (Ariana Greenblatt), a pickpocket/sleight of hand specialist, and Charlie (Justice Smith), the behind-the-scenes guy and magic history nerd who designs all of their tricks. All three of these young actors have been great in everything I’ve seen them in, and it’s a tonne of fun seeing them get to cut loose and riff together here.

The original Four Horsemen are all back – Jesse Eisenberg as illusionist J. Daniel Atlas, Woody Harrelson as mentalist Merritt McKinney, Dave Franco as sleight of hand and cardistry specialist Jack Wilder, and Isla Fisher returning as escapologist Henley Reeves – and I have to confess, even though I don’t have any special affection for this film series, there was a real buzz in seeing them all back together on screen again. Part of it may be because (from what I’ve seen behind the scenes) there’s a real bond between the actors who have been through intensive magic training for these films, but whatever the reason, the group’s chemistry is palpable.

“…probably the most fun instalment in the series…”

Finally, I did want to take a moment to recognise the efforts that the cast and filmmakers went to to do as much “magic” as possible practically, rather than relying on CGI for everything. Yes, of course, there’s CGI in the movie, but most (if not all) of the performance magic is done for real, especially the sleight of hand (not all that easy when you’re talking about a diamond the size of a man’s fist). There’s one scene in particular, when (minimal spoilers) a group of characters are performing a series of tricks to each other to demonstrate their magic credentials – not only were all of those tricks performed for real in-camera, but the whole scene is also done in one long take, meaning all of the performers had to executed their tricks flawlessly all in the same take. That level of dedication, I feel, is worthy of recognition.

Ultimately, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is still escapist nonsense like the rest of the series – but for me, this was probably the most fun instalment in the series, with the clearest idea of where it wanted to go and what story it wanted to tell.