A couple of weeks ago with some friends over we looked for a film to watch and saw this on Amazon. As we all like heist films we thought we would give it a shot.
Now You See Me was a theatrical release earlier this year starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo and others. It did VERY well at the box office and a sequel is in the works. Basically it is the story of a group of four street magicians who are recruited by a mysterious character to form a magic performing team called The Four Horsemen. However, starting with their first big show it becomes apparent that The Four Horsemen are not your typical stage act, as they literally rob a bank in another country before the eyes of the audience and give the proceeds to that audience Robin Hood style. The rest of the movie involves the hunt for the Horsemen by the FBI and Interpol and the slow unraveling of who they are and what the group is really up to.
We went in with no expectations either way as heist films can be a mixed bag. This one was better than we expected and a pleasant surprise.
First, the acting was pretty good across the board. No one did a bad job and Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were effective in their roles as were all of the Horsemen.
Second, the plot was pretty well done. It flowed properly and when things were revealed they made sense in light of other elements of the story. The heists were clever overall and even better were all explained. They even did a good job of explaining the reason behind the formation of the Horsemen and why these street magicians joined up.
If the movie had flaws one might be that I did figure out a major reveal before it happened. On the other hand I did so based on plot elements so it also meant the reveal wasn't from outer space. Another is that the movie could have been just a little faster paced. But aside from that it was a nice, fairly smart caper film which I liked.
Now You See Me was a theatrical release earlier this year starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo and others. It did VERY well at the box office and a sequel is in the works. Basically it is the story of a group of four street magicians who are recruited by a mysterious character to form a magic performing team called The Four Horsemen. However, starting with their first big show it becomes apparent that The Four Horsemen are not your typical stage act, as they literally rob a bank in another country before the eyes of the audience and give the proceeds to that audience Robin Hood style. The rest of the movie involves the hunt for the Horsemen by the FBI and Interpol and the slow unraveling of who they are and what the group is really up to.
We went in with no expectations either way as heist films can be a mixed bag. This one was better than we expected and a pleasant surprise.
First, the acting was pretty good across the board. No one did a bad job and Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were effective in their roles as were all of the Horsemen.
Second, the plot was pretty well done. It flowed properly and when things were revealed they made sense in light of other elements of the story. The heists were clever overall and even better were all explained. They even did a good job of explaining the reason behind the formation of the Horsemen and why these street magicians joined up.
If the movie had flaws one might be that I did figure out a major reveal before it happened. On the other hand I did so based on plot elements so it also meant the reveal wasn't from outer space. Another is that the movie could have been just a little faster paced. But aside from that it was a nice, fairly smart caper film which I liked.
