Now You See Me: Now You Don’t; The series’ latest struggles to spellbind

Airplane movies. You know the type. 30,000 feet in the air on the 8 p.m. from Los Angeles to Denver, the passenger in the middle seat is sleeping on your shoulder, you got nowhere to go, so you throw on what looks fun. They may not be films you would devote time and money to down on earth’s crust but trapped in the friendly skies, desperate for escapism, you will settle. Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the third chapter in the daring illusionists’ saga. And an airplane movie.

The original Four Horsemen assemble to pick up right where 2016’s second series installment left off. H.M.I.C (Head Magician in Charge) J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) is joined by cohorts Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher). Conjuring their spellbinding talents, they embark on another high-stakes heist, fighting the world’s evils while wiping the floor with anyone in physical confrontations along the way. It’s like David Blaine joined The Avengers. But they aren’t alone this round.

Flat cinematography underscores absent plot tension

With no fear of disjointed aesthetics or tone, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t features its’ third different director in three releases, Ruben Fleischer, (Zombieland). A divergent scribe from the first two also helms the story, bringing in Eric Warren Singer. Continuity issues or not, the lion’s share of the writing often feels undetermined, subbing near non-stop dialogue in place of imaginative camerawork or character development, never giving itself a chance breathe and to build tension or spike momentum. 

The hipster hideout of Bushwick plays the trite setting of the opening scene where a packed venue seemingly watches the fusing of infamous wizardly disruptors, The Four Horseman.  The framework is strikingly presumptuous, knowing damn well pretentious Brooklyn transplants wouldn’t embrace a mainstreamed event. An unrealistic start, even for a magic movie. But it’s smoke and mirrors of course. A young triumvirate, Bosco, Charlie, and June, have employed holograms and trickery to fool all that they are witnessing the abracadabra O.G.s, really a ruse to expose and regulate a crooked crypto bro’s chicanery. This stunt leads to a visit from the impressed but unamused Atlas, who takes the promising virtuosos under his tutelage for a trick the Horsemen have never executed. Dominic Sessa, who raised eyebrows in The Holdovers, sadly slumps into the uninventive role of Bosco, the thwarting and brash dynamo of the budding tricksters, whose’ character’s stock motivations and actions Miss Cleo could forecast.

Notable stars stack the cast

The ensemble cast swells as familiar and fresh faces keep coming like endless scarves out the sleeve. Rosamund Pike embodies the callous Veronika Vanderberg, chieftess of the wealthy Vanderberg dynasty, who’ve been corrupting societies, mining conflict diamonds, and surely not paying their fair share of taxes. One diamond in particular, “The Heart” is the grand score The Horsemen plot on, aiming to reveal and upend the nefarious family’s criminal dealings in the process. 

Vanderberg? The surname sounds phoned in, resembling another brood from omnipotent old money. Vanderberg. Vanderbilt. Seeing Oscar-nominees Eisenberg, and especially Harrelson reprise these uninspiring roles poses to disenchant your viewing investment, bothered by the cheapening of their acting chops. Audiences who took something away from the previous Now You See Me pictures will likely score a hat trick this third time, whether earnest enjoyment or not. Like the undisputed magician-movie The Prestige says about the audience, “you want to be fooled”. For others, this one is ripe for MTV Movie Awards nominations sans a win.