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---
title: Now You See Me 2
date: 2022-09-14T22:09:07+09:00
box_office: $65,075,540
date: 2022-09-14 22:09:07+09:00
favorite: false
rating: 2
imdb: 6.4
image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjhlNDljNTgtZjc4My00NmZmLTk2YzAtYWE5MDYwYjM4MTkzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODE5NzE3OTE@._V1_SX800.webp
summary: A group of magicians are coerced into pulling off another heist
quick_look: A bit of a miss. Though not lacking in the same demonstrations of stage magic and elements of a heist film as the original, the ultimate blending of those aspects here is unimpressive. The result is an average action movie with a few magic show intermissions that pales in comparison to its predecessor.
genres:
- Action
- Adventure
- Comedy
- Action
- Adventure
- Comedy
image: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYjhlNDljNTgtZjc4My00NmZmLTk2YzAtYWE5MDYwYjM4MTkzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODE5NzE3OTE@._V1_SX800.webp
imdb: 6.4/10
imdb_link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3110958
metacritic: 46/100
metacritic_link: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/now-you-see-me-2
mpaa: PG-13
quick_look: A bit of a miss. Though not lacking in the same demonstrations of stage magic and elements
of a heist film as the original, the ultimate blending of those aspects here is unimpressive. The result
is an average action movie with a few magic show intermissions that pales in comparison to its predecessor.
rating: 2
rotten_tomatoes: 34%
rotten_tomatoes_link: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/now_you_see_me_2
summary: A group of magicians are coerced into pulling off another heist
title: Now You See Me 2
year: 2016
---
## Recommendation
I will just come out and say, I don't recommend this movie. I can't recommend it if you haven't seen the first one because the plot relies heavily on the events from the previous film, but at the same time, I wouldn't recommend this to people who like the first film because it fails to recreate the style that made that movie enjoyable.
@ -24,11 +33,11 @@ The film does have entertaining magic sequences, and some of the heist elements
Spoilers for the first and second films...
### Magic for No Reason
One of the major differences between this film and the original is that it has magic performances thrown in for seemingly no reason. In the original, magic was used for a few specific reasons on top of it simply being entertaining for a viewing audience.
One of the major differences between this film and the original is that it has magic performances thrown in for seemingly no reason. In the original, magic was used for a few specific reasons on top of it simply being entertaining for a viewing audience.
The film uses magic to establish each character. We learn about their background and abilities through an entertaining magical performance at the beginning, and each is in a natural setting where it makes sense for them to be performing. We learn that Atlas is a famous and arrogant traditional magician, Henley is a nonconventional but talented stage performer, McKinney is a down on his luck mentalist using his abilities to scam tourists, and Jack Wilder is essentially a nobody using his skills to rob people.
In the first film, the magic is used in a practical way to execute the heist. The Horsemen's live show is a vehicle for them to pull off each phase of the heist. The filmmakers can slip in magic tricks to entertain the audience and move the story forward at the same time. The film settles into a fun pattern of dazzling the audience with tricks, and then showing how that progresses the story by explaining the magic with the antagonist, Thaddeus Bradley.
In the first film, the magic is used in a practical way to execute the heist. The Horsemen's live show is a vehicle for them to pull off each phase of the heist. The filmmakers can slip in magic tricks to entertain the audience and move the story forward at the same time. The film settles into a fun pattern of dazzling the audience with tricks, and then showing how that progresses the story by explaining the magic with the antagonist, Thaddeus Bradley.
In contrast, the second movie puts in magic for no reason. The Henley replacement character is introduced in a scene where she has broken into Atlas's house. She too is introduced doing magic, but the only person there is Atlas so it feels unnatural. It's unclear why she'd be doing it and it segues into a scene where Atlas repeatedly tries to tie her up with ropes and she continually escapes. It just feels like a contrived set up to show off the tricks.
@ -50,7 +59,7 @@ McKinney is a major reason their initial plan fails. He is hypnotized by his bro
Jack Wilder's character is maybe the only one they don't actively deprecate, but the framing of his character lowers his status. In the first one, he's sort of a wild card roguish character that comes in handy when the other members of the team don't expect it. He is never portrayed as lacking in skill: he is on stage performing with the rest of them throughout the film. In this film, he has become a mentalist protege and his skills that were interesting in the first one get put on the shelf. He still throws cards at people constantly, but his lock picking is relegated to one scene where he wiggles the chip out of the computer. Otherwise he just tried to use mentalism and mostly fails.
Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) also has a complete 180 on his character. In the previous one he is the mastermind, but this time he doesn't know what's going on. Ultimately, his whole life was a lie and everything that happened in the first movie is completely devalued.
### Devaluing the Original
In the service of plot twists, this movie basically destroys everything set up in the original film. The main twist of the film is that Thaddeus Bradley was secretly an important member of The Eye and someone who originally worked with Dylan Rhodes' father. This completely ruins the point of the first movie. Everything they did was to enact revenge on the people that had wronged Shrike. Also if Thaddeus is a major member of The Eye and Dylan doesn't know that, then Dylan's position in The Eye is seriously undermined.
@ -61,4 +70,5 @@ Every time something is revealed it tends to have an initial shock value and the
This is just a random other thought I've had about this movie since it came out. Calling it _Now You See Me 2_ may have made sense from a marketing perspective, but it blows my mind that you wouldn't call the sequel _Now You Don't_. I know that naming wouldn't make much sense in the context of the film, but neither did _Now You See Me_ apart from being related to magic. _Now You Don't_ is still equally related to magic and is the _obvious_ continuation of the phrase.
Maybe they were just being optimistic and realized that by choosing _Now You Don't_ it would locked them into just 2 movies. If you were to make a third movie you'd have to come up with something totally unrelated. Still, _Now You Don't_ just seems superior in every way to _Now You See Me 2_
Maybe they were just being optimistic and realized that by choosing _Now You Don't_ it would locked them into just 2 movies. If you were to make a third movie you'd have to come up with something totally unrelated. Still, _Now You Don't_ just seems superior in every way to _Now You See Me 2_