Movie Review: Now You See Me 2

Following the success of the debut movie Now You See Me in 2013, a second movie known as Now You See Me 2 was released on June 9 this year. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the two-hour film follows infamous illusionists known as the Four Horsemen (Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, and Woody Harrelson) as they flee an invaded stage show and end up in Macau, China, by mistake. They meet a genius tech wizard Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who commands them to steal a powerful computer chip that can control all of the world’s computers. The Horsemen agree and do as he demands, but soon find out that Mabry may not be who they think he is. As the saying goes ‘identity is an illusion’, anyone can be someone else, especially in a country where the Horsemen do not speak the language. With the most unexpected help, the Horsemen hatch a plan to make Mabry trip over himself in the process of trying to deceive them. To Mabry’s delight, his scheme goes as planned – or so he thinks. In retrospect, the Horsemen hope to expose Mabry and his sly father (Michael Caine) by performing on New Year’s Eve through a series of stunts, but fate has other things in store for them. Meanwhile, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) plots his own revenge on prison inmate Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who he believes is the catalyst of his magician father’s death.

Now You See Me 2, although unable to surpass the first movie in box office sales, was a dazzling film, with the characters’ clever magic tricks and agile moves, and of course, the cunningly intelligent plot. Although the ‘magic’ on the big screen is obviously an entire variety of illusions, it is still exciting to see the deftly executed illusions that create worlds inside a viewer’s mind. The film combines the themes of magic, science and technology, and power into one incredible product. Although one may be initially confused at the beginning if they had not caught the first film, it is no problem as the film soon blankets the audience in a make-believe fog of illusions. Despite critics who may say that part of the film’s success could have been due to the appearance of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe as a generally pathetic villain, the film is definitely a must-watch this year.

Chua Wei Ting (2T)