Now You See Me 2 (2016)
Directed by Jon M. Chu
One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface only to find themselves face to face with a new enemy who enlists them to pull off their most dangerous heist yet.
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22 films that influenced Now You See Me 2
What critics say influenced Now You See Me 2
2013’s Now You See Me was a surprise hit, a charming mix of Ocean’s Eleven and The Prestige involving a series of rob-the-rich heists performed by a group of do-gooder illusionists called the Four Horsemen ( Jesse Eisenberg , Woody Harrelson , Dave Franco , and Isla Fisher, who’s been replaced with Lizzy Caplan ).
“Now You See Me 2” picks up a year after the first film with magic’s version of the “Ocean’s Eleven” team, known as the Horsemen, in hiding.
If the 2013 original was a magic/illusionist take on The Usual Suspects , the sequel is a free-wheeling Ocean’s Eleven homage.
They're perfect for fans of "Ocean's Eleven" that are looking for weaker filmmaking, a little less star power and a whole lot more playing cards.
Now You See Me 2 plays like the second instalment of a potentially endless series – a more fantastical, child-friendly variant on the Ocean's Eleven films.
But the film is an emotional black hole, its insufferably smug tricksters augmented by Mr. Harrelson — wearing too many teeth and a wig reminiscent of “Don’t Look Now”-era Donald Sutherland — as his character’s identical twin.
In theory, Now You See Me 2 is reminiscent of eighties sequels like Another Stakeout or Short Circuit 2, when a fluke hit gets trotted out for a second lap even though everybody’s already forgotten the first.
More importantly, both NYSM films display the kind of largesse, swagger and originality that recall 1980s Hollywood, a riskier business place that once pitched the movies Back to the Future and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension against each other.
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In theory, Now You See Me 2 is reminiscent of eighties sequels like Another Stakeout or Short Circuit 2, when a fluke hit gets trotted out for a second lap even though everybody’s already forgotten the first.
If the 2013 original was a magic/illusionist take on The Usual Suspects , the sequel is a free-wheeling Ocean’s Eleven homage.
To paraphrase The Usual Suspects, an infinitely superior magic trick of a movie: The greatest trick Hollywood ever pulled was convincing the world that magicians are cool.
Other new cast members include Macau's Iong’s Magic Shop proprietors (Jay Chou, "The Interview" and Tsai Chin, "The Joy Luck Club") and Richard Laing ("Batman Begins") as Lionel Shrike in flashback.
More importantly, both NYSM films display the kind of largesse, swagger and originality that recall 1980s Hollywood, a riskier business place that once pitched the movies Back to the Future and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension against each other.
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But there’s so little substance, too much smoke and mirrors, the pandering to the Chinese market even more obvious than in “Independence Day,” the ending too much a cop-out, for this to come off.
And the obligatory final reveal has all the pathos and dramatic tension of a Scooby-Doo episode.