Now You See Me

On stage, a magician's tricks are best left unexplained. In Now You See Me, a film about magicians, there's plenty of magic revealed.

J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Merritt Osbourne (Woody Harrelson) were four down on their luck magicians. Brought together by a mysterious benefactor, they are the Four Horsemen. They make a name for themselves when, during a Vegas performance, they whip out a teleportation device. They beam one lucky sap to a Paris Bank vault and shower its 3 million Euro supply on to their audience.

Naturally, agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) wants to know how they did it. But they're not telling. So he gets magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) to help him. As the Horsemen plan their next stunts in New Orleans and New York, they have to do what they can to throw the Law off their trail.

It's a $75 million dazzler directed by Louis Leterrier. There are plenty of amazing magic tricks conjured up by its visual effects crew. There are also plenty of magical plot twists from the screenplay to bedazzle the audience. Initially, one might find the magic less incredible once its secrets are exposed. But as it goes on, it'll make much more sense.

Think of it like The Sting, but with magicians. I did.

The Actors make for a good ensemble. They play with the audience's expectations of their role in the grand scheme of things amazingly. That's where the best magic is.

At 115 minutes, Now You See Me drags on for quite a bit, especially at the end. But its written and visual magic makes it worth it at any price.