A View From the Couch: Now You See Me, Now You Bored

Rating: 5/10

The novelty of the Now You See Me franchise actually started wearing off midway through the second film, but the third installment of the franchise (Now You See Me: Now You Don’t) is all the confirmation you need that this story has run out of road, despite the best efforts of everybody involved with the series.

The great difficulty with the Now You See Me franchise is that the material is heavily reliant on the element of surprise, but now that we have learned what The Horsemen are about, there is very little left to surprise audiences.

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t was a great opportunity for writers and producers to focus a little more on character development, but instead they have reverted to an old set of ticks, delivered by a fresh generation.

I certainly do not get the sense that this was enough to rejuvenate what is fast evolving into a pretty stale product, and frankly midway through the movie I found myself watching out of sheer commitment to seeing the film through.

Even the introduction of Rosamund Pike as Veronika Vanderberg, the wickedly over-the-top CEO of a South African diamond company, who uses it as a money-laundering front, wasn’t enough to elevate this film.

The most prominent theme that emerges from Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the clash between the old guard (The Horsemen) and the new guard (The Next-Gen Magicians), highlighting legacy, ego, and the evolution of magic in the digital age.

At this juncture it is also worth mentioning that The Next-Gen Magicians don’t really have a set of defining qualities about them.

With Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), there was a certain thrill created by the escapology, and the red hair.

With Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) you had the sleight of hand, and the extreme quirkiness of the personality.

With J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), you had the extreme arrogance, and with Merritt McKinney you basically had Woody Harrelson from essentially every single film he has ever made, which is always a little funny.

The new generation introduced in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, doesn’t bring something instantly memorable to the franchise, although that might just be the old geezer in me talking.

Sometimes, when you have invested in a set of characters that initially captured your imagination, it can be a little difficult to let go, but I honestly don’t think that is the case here. I just think the new generation of magicians was poorly cast.

I feel like I have seen an overwhelming amount of Dominic Sessa in recent years, and even though he plays the young impressionist Bosco LeRoy in this film, it feels like the same deadpan character Sessa produces every time he appears in front of the camera.

Nevertheless, in this film we find the original Horsemen separated and brought back together by a mysterious challenge that forces them to collaborate with a younger, tech-savvy trio.

During this fresh union figures like Atlas and Bosco have a direct, competitive rivalry, where Atlas’s old-school arrogance clashes with Bosco’s Gen-Z swagger and technical proficiency, but even in that scenario the tension simply isn’t palpable enough to sustain your interest, which is a tremendous pity.

The conflict shows the old Horsemen (Atlas, Merritt) having to adapt to new methods, while the new magicians (Bosco, June, Charlie) learn the value of classic misdirection and teamwork from their heroes.

The real driving force for this movie, though, is the global pursuit of anti-capitalist justice, which has been the recurring theme with the Horsemen from the outset.

Continuing the “Robin Hood” motif, the target in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is the most ruthless and wealthy yet, giving the Horsemen a larger moral purpose.

In this film, the magicians are tasked with stealing the most expensive diamond in the world, “The Heart,” from Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), the CEO of a South African diamond company, which they aim to expose as a front for money laundering.

The final illusion publicly strips Vanderberg of her wealth, with the promise to return it to the people of South Africa, making the fight about global wealth redistribution.

The Horsemen’s actions are orchestrated by Charlie Vanderberg (Justice Smith), a new character whose primary motivation is vengeance against his paternal half-sister, Veronika, for a decades-old family tragedy.

This mirrors the previous film’s twist, where personal revenge (Charlie’s) is masked by a grand, altruistic scheme (The Eye’s).

The element of constant misdirection is still key in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, only this time, it involves a trick played on The Horsemen themselves, but even then, the technique feels stale.

The entire mission — from the invitations to the final heist — is engineered by Charlie Vanderberg.

He is revealed to be the true puppet master seeking revenge on Veronika, having tricked the legendary Horsemen into carrying out the ultimate illusion on his behalf.

This solidifies the franchise’s theme that the most important magic is not the grand trick itself, but the planning, patience, and secret motivation of the magician running the show behind the curtain.