Now You See Me (2013)

Magician, a Rival and FBI Agent

Stars   :  Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent
Score  :  7.8 / 10

 

Four magician who is rising in popularity, three men and a woman, Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) received an invitation through tarot cards. At the back of card, there is an address, 45 East Evan Street and a date, 29th March at 4:44 pm. On the day, they came to the apartment and met each other. Some of them had already known, such as Henley who formerly was the assistant of Daniel and Jack who was a big fan of Daniel. None of them knew the purpose and the sender of invitation. They entered room number 6a and found a series of mystery in it. 

Daniel, Merritt, Jack and Henley

One year later, in Las Vegas, they were performing on show organized by Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) as producer in the MGM Grand Building. They call themselves The Four Horseman. The show was attended by thousands of audiences, including Tressler and a magician, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman).

The Four Horseman in a show

On that night, The Four Horseman will perform a bank robbery. They decided which banks will be robbed, by randomly selecting one of the customers of the bank from the audience. One audience, named Etienne Forcier, a customer of Credit Republicain de Paris in France was chosen. The Four Horseman took him up to the stage and put it a helmet. Daniel asks Etienne took an enclosed card, show it to the audience and write his name on the card. Etienne took 2 hearts and put it in his pocket. The Four Horseman leads Etienne to stand on a tool that has been prepared on stage. In a short time, Etienne had disappeared. All screens in the building showing Etienne, who had been in France, precisely in the safety deposit room of Credit Republicain de Paris. In front of him, there is a pile of money in large amounts (3.2 million Euro). Daniel asks Etienne took the card from his pocket and The Four Horseman Show ticket and put it in the middle of that pile. Not long after that, a pile of money was pured and relocates to MGM Grand Building. All audiences amazed and gave a long applause.

Etienne in Credit Repbulicain de Paris

At the same time when bank staff get into the safety deposit room, they look the room is empty and get a card (2 hearts) with the name of Etienne and a ticket The Four Horseman Show.  

The police catch The Four Horseman and Etienne. FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) assigned to handle the case. Etienne was released because of innocence; Etienne was a victim of hypnotic The Four Horseman. During the investigation, The Four Horseman trap Rhodes with some magic tricks. Rhodes which is not sympathize on magician and consider them as cheater, become angry and ignores them. They were released, but Rhodes did not stay silent, he went to Thaddeus, one of the audiences in The Four Horseman Show.  

The Four Horseman in investigation

Thaddeus is a magician who likes to reveal the secrets another magician tricks. Thaddeus well known in some television shows and DVDs. Thaddeus reveal the secrets trick of The Four Horseman in a bank robbery to Rhodes. On the next, The Four Horseman will next show takes hold a show in New Orleans. This time, they promised to Tressler will give the show more spectacular than before. Alma and Rhodes do not want to miss for second time; they go to New Orleans with FBI agents, carrying full equipment and stay near performance hall. Rhodes will catch them.

Rhodes and Alma met Thaddeus

What a spectacular show which will be performed The Four Horseman? Will Rhodes and Alma succeed catch The Four Horseman? Who is the man behind the tarot card invitation? What is the purpose of each performance The Four Horseman?

Now You See Me is not the only movie that has a magician theme, there are some films that also have the same theme; one of them is The Prestige. I really liked both of them and put it in my favorites list. If in The Prestige is very thick felt competition two magician, then Now You See Me showing three different groups attacking each other. The Four Horseman (a magician), Thaddeus (a magician who likes to reveal another magician tricks) and Rhodes (FBI agent).

The excess of Now You See Me is located on four things. First, attractions magician performed very well. At the beginning of the film, while Daniel did card attraction, I also chose one card. Whether a coincidence or is it a magic trick that is played for real, the card appears in the wall of the building same with a card that I had been chosen. Secondly, if you are curious about any secret of magic, do not worry, Thaddeus would answer it, though not all. Third, there are also some action scenes in this film, like the chase in crowded street and unique fights between Rhodes and Jack. Jack involves his skill in magic when fighting. It's very entertaining. And the last is a twist ending, though a little seemed silly because knowing the story mean, exactly when the film is almost over. In addition, from this film I also get a lesson about the revenge. The revenge was able to take root in the heart of people in a very long time. Because of revenge, someone who is innocent also bear the consequences.

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