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Some movies seek to change your life. This one just wants to make audiences gasp and smile — and, for the most part, it does. Directed by Ruben Fleisher, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” premiered in theaters on Nov. 14 and delivers exactly what it promises: a breezy, entertaining caper that’s built on clever setups and satisfying reveals. It is not trying to be deep or philosophical, and its occasional corny writing is just part of the package. The pleasures here are the tricks: how they’re planted, how they connect across plot points, and how the finale ties them into a neat bow. When the film leans a bit tacky or cringey, the showmanship smooths it over.
The plot is straightforward. As in earlier films, the storyline runs on stakes set by an immoral power broker, clever sleight-of-hand, planted misdirection, and a tidy final reveal that leaves viewers making hindsight connections back to previous points in the movie. Nearly a decade after the Four Horsemen vanished, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) taps three rising illusionists — Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco Leroy (Dominic Sessa), and June McClure (Ariana Greenblatt) — for an Eye-ordained new trick. With Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) back in, the crew targets a headline diamond called the Heart, triggering a heist in Antwerp that prompts an escape to an illusion-filled chateau in France and ultimately culminates into a climactic finale in Abu Dhabi.
Cinematography under George Richmond keeps the magic legible by teaching viewers about the space before using it. The camera establishes spatial geometry in patient wide shots to map the French chateau’s infinity mirrors, upside-down room, and forced-perspective gallery before transitioning into controlled glides to let audiences inhabit the illusions before being asked to decode them. By the time the police storm in, audiences can anticipate how the Horsemen will weaponize each room and enjoy the double vision of knowing the method while understanding how first-timers fall for it.
The Antwerp diamond unveiling uses the same approach as cueing rather than instruction: A camera pan catches June making eye contact with Bosco, who’s disguised as a photographer, and then notices Charlie, as a server, edging too close to the diamond stand — before returning to the oblivious crowd. These hints invite viewers to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit in real time, escape-room style, before running through a brisk recap to surface the missed handoffs. Taken together, the chateau and Antwerp sequences showcase the effect that the movie is named after: “You didn’t see it then, but now you do.”
Character-wise, the ensemble of magicians fits neatly into defined roles without reducing the newcomers to replicas. Bosco mirrors Atlas’ cynicism and crisp arrogance, with a similarly controlling personality though perhaps less volcanic, while Charlie is the steadier, back-bench calibrator. June assumes the franchise’s “tactile solver” mantle and lock expert, switching out props and playing out the nimble pickpocketer. Among the original Horsemen, Henley’s escapology remains one of the more pragmatic skills on-screen, especially during one suspenseful scene where, in a cruel twist of irony, they are actually trapped in the classic sand-filling glass box. Jack’s sleight-of-hand and stunt timing, however, punctuate sequences, and Merritt’s hypnosis helps him profile Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), the film’s antagonist, and uncover several crucial biological details. Hence, each member of the group has a chance in the spotlight.
As for the scripting, though, it is unevenly effective. The familiar rhythms between the original Horsemen are largely intact, with Merritt and Atlas trading sharp jabs with longstanding ease, Henley steadying the scene with a motherly flair, and Jack taking the chaos in stride — that comfort is part of the appeal. By contrast, the dialogue of the youthful trio is competent but seldom distinctive: Friendly and functional without yet carrying the lived-in “old friend” charge that animates the original Horsemen, so it is not compelling enough to convince audiences of their true shared bond and history. Consequently, the dynamic between them feels a little less fluid and contributes to some of the corniness in dialogue.
For all its craftsmanship, the film lacks a singular, inarguable showstopper — the kind of sustained and self-contained trick that the second film delivers with its much-replayed card sequence. The theft of the Heart Diamond is neatly engineered and sprinkled with disguises, yet it tilts more towards action-forward momentum — choreographed bustle, tight escapes and tumbles — as opposed to an audacious illusion that redefines the scene on replay. The chateau raid and glass cube escapade operate in a comparable fashion: They’re brisk and engaging, but neither crystallizes into a “talked-about” moment that would give the film its wow factor. Indeed, that absence is one factor that distinguishes this film from its two predecessors. As is, the movie entertains consistently and cleanly, but it could use just one more sequence with an unapologetic magic “oomph” to match the franchise’s defining panache.
Taken as a whole, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” makes a confident return because it treats audience attention as part of the act: Camerawork teaches the space, plants solvable clues, and then lets brisk reveal-montages verify what viewers’ eyes half-caught; editing keeps the payoffs clean; personalities and banter of the OG characters restore the franchise’s rhythm while the newly-added ones add functional skills. Sure, there’s a tradeoff wherein no single, goosebump set piece exists to rival the second film’s card routine. But, the net effect is exactly what this series promises: a precise, reassuring crowd-pleaser rather than a philosophical provocation — and that’s why the pleasure lingers after the credits. So, what’s the trick?
—Staff writer Audrey Zhang can be reached at audrey.zhang@thecrimson.com.
