Now You See Me

Unlike many of the films I watch, I did see several trailers in advance of Now You See Me. And unlike many trailers these days, they don't give away too much; well, anything is too much for me normally, so I guess I mean not enough to spoil the film too much.

Four magicians are recruited by a mysterious figure, that they don't ever meet. Then they start doing shows where they magically steal money and give it to the audiences. Somehow the FBI have to try and stop them.

It's a cross between a heist movie and a mystery thriller. In that sense it is quite original. I have seen plenty of comparisons with the style of the Ocean movies (of which I've only seen "11") but for me that is only down to the ensemble cast: in substance it is more like The Thomas Crown Affair where a very clever chaser battles a possibly cleverer crook.

Often with big-name casts you get a thinly veiled pissing contest; but here the names are nicely balanced by the up-and-comings and everyone plays together nicely; with Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo perhaps edging ahead slightly for me.

The female roles are poorly stereotyped as usual in American films. Isla Fisher and Mélanie Laurent are the token women in magic and cop camps respectively; the former misdirecting the punters with her legs and the latter flashing her smile and French accent for mostly no reason at all.

I loved the way the story twisted and turned. There were hints and misdirections. The whole movie was set up like a big magic trick. Well done to director Louis Leterrier and writers Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt.