Now You See Me 2 (2016) Movie Review

 

Now You See Me 2 | 2016 | 2h 9m
Genre: Caper/Heist/Action/Adventure/Comedy/Crime/Mystery/Thriller | Country: US
Director: Jon M. Chu | Writers: Ed Solomon, Peter Chiarelli, Boaz Yakin
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson
IMDB: 6.4
My Rate: 8/10

The Four Horsemen return and perform with a new member, but their plan is sabotaged by Walter who traps them and makes them work for him. The Four Horsemen manage to give a stunning final performance, although it causes a slight rift within their group.

Warning:

Contains violence, strong language, sensuality, and alcohol.

 

Synopsis:

Eighteen months after their last act, the Four Horsemen are still in hiding, waiting for further orders from The Eye. Atlas grows impatient waiting for instructions from Rhodes, believing he deserves to be the leader of the Horsemen. Atlas tries to meet The Eye directly, but the meeting leaves him unsatisfied.

Atlas is surprised when he meets Lula at his home. Lula knows everything about the Horsemen, including Henley’s departure and Jack’s fake death. It turns out Lula is the new member of the Horsemen, filling the vacancy left by Henley.

Rhodes continues to mislead the FBI by pretending to search for the Horsemen. However, the FBI no longer trusts him and considers Rhodes too obsessed with the matter. This gives Rhodes more freedom to act.

The Eye finally gives them a new mission. Rhodes gathers all the Horsemen and introduces Lula to them. He explains their new task: to expose Owen Case’s secret plan to steal user data from a new mobile phone device he is about to launch. The Horsemen are tasked with revealing this to the public.

The plan goes well until the Horsemen appear and perform, only to find their plan sabotaged by someone. That person also exposes Jack’s whereabouts, who was previously said to be dead, and Rhodes’s identity as the mastermind behind the Horsemen’s crimes. Chaos breaks out, forcing the Horsemen to flee.

The Horsemen wake up surprised in a restaurant in Macau. They meet Chase, Merrit’s twin brother, who is also a mentalist. They are taken to a building where Walter is located.

Walter is Owen’s former colleague who feels betrayed. Walter faked his death and works secretly to dominate the tech world. However, the idea Owen is about to launch belongs to Walter. Walter asks the Horsemen to steal the chip and give it to him.

Elsewhere, Rhodes waits for the Horsemen at their usual meeting place. Their absence makes Rhodes suspicious. He asks Thaddeus for help to solve the problem and find the Horsemen’s whereabouts.

Walter has a hidden plan for revenge. Rhodes and the Horsemen are trapped and put in danger. Will the Horsemen succeed in revealing the secret to the public?

 

Review:

Now You See Me 2 is somewhat different from Now You See Me (2013), which was based on a story by Yakin and Ricourt. For this second sequel, the story is based on works by Solomon and Peter Chiarelli. It still revolves around the Four Horsemen and The Eye but with new conflicts and storyline.

Rhodes and Thaddeus continue to play important roles in the story, while Henley’s character is replaced by Lula. This change was due to Isla Fisher being pregnant during the filming.

With the success of the first sequel, there was pressure on this second sequel to be at least equal in quality. Unfortunately, this sequel does not deliver a story or scenes as phenomenal as the first. There are not many surprising magic tricks shown in this film.

In the first film, the audience was treated to stunning magic tricks from beginning to end. However, the big acts in this sequel only appear at the end. The card trick, which was heavily featured in the trailer, does not add much depth to the story and is somewhat boring.

The background of the characters is less well developed. Unlike the introduction of the Four Horsemen in the first film, Lula’s character is not explored well. Lula only shows her ability during her meeting with Atlas with a trick that is actually hard to believe logically.

The story at the beginning is presented at a fast pace without giving the audience time to digest and understand the issues being developed. The adrenaline is pushed from the start. It would have been better to show the Four Horsemen’s condition more deeply at the beginning to connect with the first film and serve as a transition to the next story.

The conflict differs from the first sequel, which was full of mystery. In this sequel, we see two conflicts: internal conflict within the group and conflict caused by a third party. The internal conflict shows some fractures in the group affecting their work, while the conflict with the third party relates to a character from the first sequel.

The presentation of conflicts is quite interesting and varied. However, the casting of Daniel Radcliffe as Walter somehow feels off. Perhaps because his image is strongly associated with the innocent Harry Potter, so the portrayal of a genius villain is not perfectly realized.

The story resolution is done very well with carefully thought-out scene details. In this resolution, we also see the main charm of the film with all its magic tricks. All mysteries are clearly explained one by one without leaving any unanswered questions.

The acting of the cast, both main and supporting, is quite good. The chemistry is also well established. Although there are some slightly awkward scenes, they can be overlooked.

The cinematography and editing are done quite well, for example, when Atlas performs the rain magic trick. The choice of sound effects and music matches each scene. The color composition and transitions are also done quite well.

A slight flaw in the story is when two people from the magic shop say they will help the Four Horsemen and Rhodes in the Final Act. However, we do not see their direct contribution, as if everything is done only by the Horsemen.

Putting aside all things that might still be optimized, this film provides quite an interesting watch, although not as good as the first film. Will the third sequel succeed in turning things around?

 

Memorable scene:

#spoiler. Rhodes nearly dies even though he managed to get out of the safe where he was locked. The Horsemen come to rescue him at the last moment and bring him to the surface. In this scene, it is clear that although it might endanger themselves, the Horsemen choose to save Rhodes.

 

Memorable dialogue:

"You're chosen, all of you. Not because of who you are but because of who you might become"

 
Ending:

Twist Ending

 
Recommendation:

Worth to watch

 

(Aluna)