Now You See Me!****

Now You See Me!****

 

 

Tagline: Come in close, because the more you think you see, the easier it'll be to fool you
Magic has always been important to Hollywood where countless films have been made on the subject in the last 100 years. Be it a movie with a magician who makes others disappear or those where a big illusion misguides the audience, cinegoers have loved the idea of being mystified in a theatre. Moreover, most of such films also succeeded at the box office, making them a bankable entity. Louis Leterrier's Now You See Me is one such new-age caper thriller that pits four different kinds of super-illusionists against an FBI crack squad and a former magician who makes a living revealing the tricks of the trade. They not only avoid their hopeful captors by staying one step ahead but also manage to pull off as many as three heists in the process!
It's all in the mind!

Now You See Me starts off with a powerful introduction, where The Four Horseman are introduced magically - that is performing tricks that will surprise you for sure. While J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is an illusionist who excels in skyscraper theatrics, Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) is a mentalist who can read your mind. Atlas's former assistant Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and upcoming magician Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) complete the team that is assembled and helped by an unknown benefactor for a year, before they strike big. The first strike takes place at Las Vegas, in front of a packed audience where The Four Horsemen manage to rob a bank (situated in Paris) without leaving the stage. When apprehended (and later released), the magicians tell the FBI that this is just the beginning, and there is more to come.

In the process of pulling two more heists, The Four Horsemen make few friends and many enemies - including wealthy Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine), FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), Interpol officer Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) and Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) - who think they are one step ahead of their illusionists, but in fact are many steps behind. Even the end is likely to make you feel content because in the world of magic, all's 'only' well when it ends well!

The closer you look, the less you see!

The easiest way to find out the name of a person's bank through magic … is through his credit card! This is how engaging the dialogues of this movie are and that's why you are kept on the edge of your seat most of the time. Be it robbing a bank in Paris, fooling the crowd in Las Vegas or showering money on the audience, every dialogue is well-written; each scene is well executed; and the direction is top notch. One didn't expect such an intense thriller from Louis Leterrier, the director of The Transporter 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans, but here he delivers his masterpiece.

Be the smartest man in the room!

That's the first rule of magic and in the movie, there are many men (and a woman) who vie for the post. Mark Ruffalo as the FBI agent steals the show with his compelling performance as the guy who doesn't trust anyone. He doesn't trust his partner, he doesn't like his boss and hates the fact that four magicians are able to do the unthinkable, and he doesn't know how. The scene in which he is chasing himself on foot is an example of how well he acted on screen whereas in another, he is so close to getting his man, but is unable to do so due to hocus pocus.

Jesse Eisenberg plays the confident de facto leader of the troupe who keeps us all into believing that magic is real. Veterans Michael Caine and Woody Harrelson also have good lines but Morgan Freeman stands tall amongst the supporting cast. As a former magician who has changed sides and now dwells in revealing magicians, his character is central to the plot. After Mark Ruffalo, Freeman is the most believable character in the movie, and his acting prowess is evident in whichever scene he is in.

What you see may not be what you get!

The film has a twist in the end, which builds up in the scenes in which Morgan Freeman's character Thaddeus Bradley reveals how the tricks were actually performed. He tells the audience and his fellow characters that it is possible to rob a French bank without leaving Las Vegas, it is possible to steal a safe that is under strict lock and key and that it is also possible that a man presumed dead can be alive, through magic. These explanatory scenes (read flashbacks) make you realize that along with the characters in the movie, The Four Horsemen managed to dupe you into believing what they wanted you to believe. It is only at the very end that the 'pot on gold at the end of the rainbow' is revealed, and audiences are left thunderstruck by the ingenuity of the story writer and the director.

Verdict - GOTCHA!

Now You See Me may not be as good as Christopher Nolan's The Prestige or Neil Burger's The Illusionist but it is not to be missed for obvious reasons. It keeps you engrossed to the plot from start till end, the lengthy flashback sequences give you a sense of astonishment that hasn't been seen in many years, and the end will stun you as if you were just released from a hypnotized state! The film has car chases, and death-defying stunts and I am sure that when you would leave the theatre, you would feel vindicated rather than cheated by the filmmakers. And let me remind you, despite reading this review, you will still not see the end coming!