Most of the gang is back – but the sense of fun that catapulted the original khổng lồ success is drowned out by desperation in this bigger, louder follow-up crime caper


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Being a Hollywood sequel, Now You See Me 2 of course comes supersized.Bạn sẽ xem: Now you see me 2 movie review

It’s significantly longer than its predecessor, running over two hours. The first film took a short detour to lớn Paris, but otherwise stayed in the States; Now You See Me 2 jumps from America, to china (in an obvious effort khổng lồ court the Asian market), and finally khổng lồ England. The plot boasts higher stakes. Its melee of characters has grown khổng lồ include a hammy new villain, played by Daniel Radcliffe. & Woody Harrelson is back, playing not one, but two characters … they’re twins.

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Now You See Me, a jazzy heist caper that became a surprise hit in the summer of 2013, had an energising tỷ lệ thoát to it, courtesy of French film-maker Louis Leterrier, even though it didn’t make a lick of sense. By contrast, Now You See Me 2 plays lượt thích its try-hard cousin: it wants so badly to lớn win you over that the desperation is off-putting. The film, lượt thích the smug magicians that populate it, showboats by throwing more of everything at the screen. Critically lacking is the sense of fun that characterised its predecessor.

Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg và Dave Franco, as the three other magicians that biến hóa the Four Horsemen – David Copperfield’s answer to lớn Robin Hood’s Merry Men – also give it their all. The same goes for Mark Ruffalo, as the Horsemen’s boss, who appears khổng lồ have walked in from the phối of Spotlight, forcefully emoting his way through the whole parade. It’s unfortunate then that Ed Solomon và Peter Chiarelli’s screenplay underserves them completely by not bothering with any semblance of character development.

Instead we’re treated lớn a series of gotcha stunts, courtesy of the quartet, who are still on the run from the feds, one year after outwitting the FBI và enacting revenge against magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). They resurface for a comeback performance to lớn expose the wrongdoings of a magnate, only to fall into a trap orchestrated by Walter Mabry (Radcliffe), a tech prodigy who forces them into pulling off a seemingly impossible heist.

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The do-or-die mission involves the Four Horseman attempting to steal a chip that has the power khổng lồ de-encrypt every computer in the world (yes, every). It also leads lớn the film’s most inane set piece, where the group manoeuvre the chip, embedded in an ace of spades, between themselves after gaining access lớn a heavily guarded vault. For what seems an eternity, the CGI card gets flicked around from Horseman to Horseman, flying through the air, and at one point, down Eisenberg’s pants. If this all sounds thrilling, then more power to lớn you.

Incoming director Jon M Chu (best known for making the second và third Step Up dance films) is a visibly slick choreographer: he stages a grand finale in London on New Year’s Eve with impressive precision. But his skills and a willing cast can’t overcome a story that stubbornly refuses to lớn embrace its inherent dumbness in favour of pointless convolutions. Where’s the fun in that?

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