Being a Hollywood sequel, Now You See Me 2 of course comes supersized.
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It’s significantly longer than its predecessor, running over two hours. The first film took a short detour lớn Paris, but otherwise stayed in the States; Now You See Me 2 jumps from America, to lớn Trung Quốc (in an obvious effort lớn court the Asian market), và finally lớn England. The plot boasts higher stakes. Its melee of characters has grown lớn include a hammy new villain, played by Daniel Radcliffe. And Woody Harrelson is baông chồng, playing not one, but two characters … they’re twins.
Now You See Me, a jazzy heist caper that became a surprise hit in the summer of 2013, had an energising bounce to lớn it, courtesy of French film-maker Louis Leterrier, even though it didn’t make a liông xã of sense. By contrast, Now You See Me 2 plays lượt thích its try-hard cousin: it wants so badly to lớn win you over that the desperation is off-putting. The film, lượt thích the smug magicians that populate it, showboats by throwing more of everything at the screen. Critically lacking is the sense of fun that characterised its predecessor.
Most of the cast is back, save for Isla Fisher, whose comedic talents were underused in the original, playing the lone female illusionist of the bunch. Tasked with filling her shoes is Lizzy Caplan, who is afforded more barbs than her Bachelorette co-star, lending the pic a bit of spark.
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Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franteo, as the three other magicians that ảo diệu the Four Horsemen – David Copperfield’s answer to Robin Hood’s Merry Men – also give it their all. The same goes for Mark Ruffalo, as the Horsemen’s trùm, who appears khổng lồ have walked in from the set of Spotlight, forcefully emoting his way through the whole parade. It’s unfortunate then that Ed Solomon & Peter Chiarelli’s screenplay underserves them completely by not bothering with any semblance of character development.
Instead we’re treated to lớn a series of gotphụ thân stunts, courtesy of the quartet, who are still on the run from the feds, one year after outwitting the FBI & enacting revenge against magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). They resurface for a comeback performance khổng lồ expose the wrongdoings of a magnate, only to fall into lớn a trap orchestrated by Walter Mabry (Radcliffe), a tech prodigy who forces them inlớn pulling off a seemingly impossible heist.
The do-or-die mission involves the Four Horseman attempting lớn steal a chip that has the power to de-encrypt every computer in the world (yes, every). It also leads lớn the film’s most inane phối piece, where the group manoeuvre the chip, embedded in an ace of spades, between themselves after gaining access to lớn a heavily guarded vault. For what seems an eternity, the CGI thẻ gets flicked around from Horseman to lớn Horseman, flying through the air, và at one point, down Eisenberg’s pants. If this all sounds thrilling, then more power khổng lồ you.
Incoming director Jon M Chu (best known for making the second & third Step Up dance films) is a visibly sliông xã choreographer: he stages a grand finale in London on New Year’s Eve sầu with impressive sầu precision. But his skills & a willing cast can’t overcome a story that stubbornly refuses to lớn embrace its inherent dumbness in favour of pointless convolutions. Where’s the fun in that?
