2013’s ‘Now You See Me’ could well have been a superhero movie because it follows the 'The Avengers' or 'X Men' style. It stars a bunch of characters with myriad extraordinary abilities, each with their specialties. Their magic tricks are played out for us, without satisfying logic. The audience is supposed to accept them the way they accept superheroes.
That is all on the surface and this is where the similarities end. Unlike the Marvel superhero thrillers the 'Now You See Me' series lacks punch. Nor does it have any elegance or style. Now 2016 sees a sequel to the film. 'Now You See Me 2' gets no better or worse than its predecessor.
The best part, if there are hardly any, come in the first half hour of the movie. One of the four horsemen is gone. Lizzy Caplan in the form of Lulu joins the horsemen as her replacement. Despite a stellar cast, the film is an insignificant sequel to an average film. Gone into hiding for a few years the horsemen make a grand comeback by announcing their latest show at a high-profile tech launch event.
Secret facility
Their target is exposing a Mark Zuckerberg-style young, popular entrepreneur who seems to have access to people’s information without their permission. How they break into the systems and onto the stage is completely unbelievable.
This latest addition to the 'Now You See Me' series sees the Horsemen trying to smuggle a valuable computer chip out of a secret facility. The action really begins after the Horsemen’s attempt to hijack the keynote event at Octa, an evil Apple-like company, goes horribly awry.
The gang is split up from Dylan, whose double-agent ways are unveiled on live TV, forcing him to go on the run.
Feeling abandoned, the Horsemen find themselves at the mercy of the wealthy and eccentric recluse Walter Maybry who presents them with a choice: either help him get the computer chip or die! One would expect a few sparks to fly after the introduction of the antagonist.
The opposite happens in 'Now You See Me 2' . Daniel Radcliffe stars as a shockingly dumb and one-note villain but he fails on the job since he has hardly anything to do but look mean.
Lame justifications
Characters from part one are brought back with lame justifications clearly because they are star names. Though the filmmakers might have expected them to add some boost to the project that hardly happens. It doesn’t help that the film, like the first one, expects viewers to cheer anything that comes their way.
The scenes drag on as well. This makes it a bore to watch.
Most of the twists are transparent too. You know what is coming so it lacks surprises.
Though it has a starry cast director Jon M Chu has not made good use of their acting prowess.
'Now You See Me 2' is, in many ways, exactly the sort of sequel everyone dreads. It neither astonishes us with the magician's artistry nor an inside peek to how they do it. It is uninspired, Insignificant and empty. Based solely on merit, 'Now You See Me 2' is a sequel that should never have been made.
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