‘The illusions are bigger and bolder than the first’

Now You See Me wowed audiences back in 2013 with the introduction of The Four Horsemen. A group of illusionist guided by master illusionist Dylan Rhodes an FBI agent. We meet them again in the sequel where they have been in hiding for a year. After hijacking the product launch of  new technology by Octo they are set to launch themselves back into the public.  All does not however go according to plan and they find themselves waking up in Macau China. Their captor is Walter Marby (Daniel Radcliffe) a presumed dead eccentric businessman and also the illegitimate son of Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine).

To win their freedom he tasks them with recovering a computer chip which of course he wants to use for less than reputable purposes.  While recovering the chip The Horsemen carry out a superbly executed piece of card trick choreography which is a stand out scene in the movie.  The foursome evade recapture by Marby and his crew and are reunited with Dylan Rhodes.  They make their way to London where they plan to carry out their greatest illusion yet.

Without giving away too much (because you should go see it) the movie has a stellar cast of characters including Woody Harrison’s character Merritt McKinney who has a twin brother. Daniel Radcliffe as Walter Marby is quirky and entertaining while Morgan Freeman returns as Thaddeus Bradley who is not all that he seems.  We finally get to find out who exactly ‘The Eye’ is and while Isla Fisher doesn’t return as Henley, we do have Lizzy Caplan giving a strong performance as  new Horseman/woman Lula.

The illusions are bigger and bolder than the first and include Daniel Atlas controlling the weather and Dylan Rhodes forcibly recreating his fathers doomed escape from a safe plunged under water.  The plot is taken to a new level of suspended reality and Jon M. Chu (Step It UP franchise) does a great job directing. The screenplay is by Ed Solomon who wrote the first and is rumoured to be writing the third.

Now You See Me 2

I’m going to give it 3/5. While its entertaining it falls slightly short of the original in terms of story line and at just over two hours it might be a tad bit long.  Check out the trailer below to give you a teaser of what to expect.