14 Reasons Why Now You See Me Sucked
From the very moment I saw the trailer for Now You See Me I felt like my world was officially ending. Is this what movies had come to? A star-studded cast in what seems to be a super extended Saturday Night Live skit? Here take a peek for yourself.
Does anybody actually watch that trailer and walk away eager to discover what The Four Horsemen are up to? Or is anybody convinced that Isla Fisher is a killer magician? Don’t even get me started on the fact that Michael Caine is in a magician movie that isn’t The Prestige.
All I saw were some of my favorite actors taking a sweet paycheck trying to overlook the fact that this movie is a piece of shit. On top of everything the movie is directed by none other than Louis Leterrier. Let’s take a look back at his filmography: The Transporter 1 and 2, Unleashed, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans. I’ll let that soak for a moment.
You may be wondering why I still sought out Now You See Me after all the signs suggested it would be a pointless waste of time. The answer is hope. Those that listen to the podcast should be aware by now that I have an affinity for “so bad they’re good” movies.
So I tried not be a total party pooper and instead thought of Now You See Me as the next Fast & Furious or Showgirls. Yes, Showgirls. Then…it happened…
I wasted nearly two hours of my life.
And all hope for ANYTHING was gone.
Truly bad movies are watched everyday and oftentimes it’s easy to simply forget about them and move on. Then there are those that require a breakdown of every horrendous thing gone wrong. That brings me to my list, 14 reasons why Now You See Me almost ruined my weekend.
If you really care I must say, massive spoilers ahead!!!!!
1. Mark Ruffalo has ZERO charisma
We’ve seen him as an adorable hipster in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a duly appointed Federal Marshal and most recently as an endearing Bruce Banner. Let’s not forget he was also an amazing dancer in 13 Going on 30.
Whatever the role he has always added that Ruffalo charm and smile that made ladies and gentlemen weak in the knees. There is something about his presence on screen that makes you feel at home and even if the movie is struggling he picks up the slack.
None of this is present in his role as Dylan Rhodes, a completely idiotic FBI agent. He spends most of the film grunting, scoffing or reacting to simple comments as if someone told him he had two days to live. It actually becomes comical at some point. I know this because in one of the last scenes of the film his response to Morgan Freeman is a mere “hehhhhhh” and laughter is the only thing I could muster.
As a viewer you spend most of the movie wondering how on earth this guy could be such a flipping moron. In the end it turns out Dylan Rhodes is really the mastermind behind all the great tricks of The Four Horsemen and he was merely ACTING like a dummy to fool those around him. Nobody would ever suspect such a clown to be a criminal mastermind!!!!!
That’s great except this reveal means nothing by the end of the film because it gives you no reason to care. His performance of stupidity becomes yet another display of overcompensation the same way male politicians bash gay people and shack up with their male lover hours later. This complete downgrade of Ruffalo is a travesty and his true fans will do nothing but facepalm throughout the entire movie.
2. None of the characters are remotely likeable
Here is the plot of Now You See Me courtesy of IMDB,
“An FBI agent and an Interpol detective track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. “
The key to a movie like this is that the characters performing criminal acts should be likeable enough that we don’t care they have questionable morals. Throughout film history there have been a handful of characters behaving badly you can’t help but secretly love. Daniel Plainview, The Joker, Hans Landa and the list goes on. Sure, they commit horrible acts and are complete assholes at times but it’s through the amazing actors and way they embrace their devilishness that allows viewers to jump on board.
So then we have Now You See Me with Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Jesse Eisenberg. Three out of four are amazing actors, sorry Dave. Yet, none of them even for one second play off their arrogance or corrupt behavior in way that makes me want to stand up and cheer. Instead I want them to get punched in the face.
By the end of the movie none of the characters have had any sort of growth other than the fact that their egos get even bigger. There were no lessons to be learned but rather a whole lot of jerking each other off and high fives. With a nearly two hour movie you sure as hell better have well-developed characters that serve as a strong base.
But, with Now You See Me we get a slapped together four-minute introduction to our main characters which highlight the worst parts about them. Two scammers, a playboy and some hot chick that uses her intense cleavage to jazz up magic tricks. It’s a real Breakfast Club kind of moment.
3. Yet another, “I’ve spent my whole life…” guy
In a tacked on scene at the end of the movie it is revealed that Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is the son of a magician who drowned many years before performing an underwater trick. Rhodes was taken in and out poverty by “The Eye” a secret society of magicians and ultimately decided to get revenge on those that caused his fathers death. So naturally he enlists four random magicians to perform elaborate “tricks” in which they steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Yeah…really touching. Let’s get this straight: Rhodes somehow gets into the FBI, pretends to be a freaking buffoon for years, stages intricate heists for others all while still maintaining his cover as a federal agent just so he can screw over people that were somehow associated with his fathers death.
His father was driven to performing a trick which involves being under water and a safe of some sort. These two things should NEVER be used together. Let’s take a brief look at how the hell we get from an underwater trick gone bad to the hijinks that ensue in the movie.
Over the course of the movie there are four tricks performed at sold out shows by The Four Horsemen. The trick seen in the trailer is the first as they rob a bank located in Paris while remaining in Las Vegas. The bank targeted just so happens to be the one that held funds paying the insurance for the death of Rhodes’ father.
In the second trick they steal money from Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) who owned the insurance company. And, for their final trick, which is probably supposed to be epic but seriously fizzles out they steal money from the company who made the safe his father used. A cheaply made safe meant sleepy time for daddy.
But, there is still one more person that Rhodes feels the need to poop on. Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) is an ex-magician that began outing his fellow fancy tricksters including Rhodes father. Bradley’s actions were so horrendous that Rhodes father went on a foolish mission to prove him wrong leading to his untimely death.
Two things are being overlooked here, the first is that Rhodes father is an idiot. There was no challenge presented saying, “Hey you, perform a crazy under water stunt and risk your life!” He simply chose to do something outrageous in order to have a ZING moment. The second issue is that Dylan Rhodes is an idiot. He does the same exact thing his father did creating an endless cycle!
Has anyone ever heard of some good old-fashioned therapy? Rhodes would have benefited greatly from sitting down on a comfy couch and sharing some deep dark feelings of revenge fantasies. Instead he spent his whole life not living but meticulously planning every detail of this scheme which would only ever work in a movie because nothing runs this seamlessly. COME ON PEOPLE. This notion that one man can bottle all this anger up until the right moment and completely pull everything he has ever dreamed of off is something only found in movies, and bad ones at that.
4. The Four Horsemen are not only arrogant, but stupid
Let’s say as a viewer we buy into the fact that Rhodes and his one-man mission is completely logical, there is still the issue of the four nincompoops he recruits. They are secretly invited into The Eye knowing only the rumors and mindlessly go along with everything they are told to do. Even though they have never met the person behind all the planning it doesn’t matter. They risk jail time and possible death to be apart of something elite within their circle of friends. All so they can have a cool freaking card with an eye on it that screams “I am in the club!”
Who would do this? I don’t care how cool your magician club is, asking questions is a smart thing to do. Either Rhodes found some crazy mofos that have issues present far before he recruited them or they really are as dumb as rocks.
5. Being a magician means you can DRIVE FAST
This is a bad movie and with that comes every horrible cliché in the book. According to Now You See Me being a “good” magician means you can participate in a one-on-one fight with Mark Ruffalo where you have moves like Jackie Chan.
Dave Franco and Mark Ruffalo go at it as if they just walked into a Bourne film. This turns into a car chase where, you guessed it Franco can drive like he is in one of the 6 Fast and Furious films. Also, his fellow Horsemen join him on the freeway for some lane switching and shuttle driving magic.
There is nothing worse than a movie that has characters who suddenly turn into experts on something that takes years to master. All those kids at talent shows with their magic wands aren’t prepared yet for their future in the martial arts and street racing.
6. Another poor romance
Need I say more? The movie somehow acquired the lovely Mélanie Laurent and it’s very clear she was there for one reason. Dylan Rhodes needs someone to love! In his final speech where EVERYTHING IS EXPLAINED he tells her there was one thing he didn’t plan on….her. Why don’t you just ask her if it hurt when she fell from the sky?
Laurent and Ruffalo spend the majority of the movie making googly eyes at one another, which I guess is supposed to mean they have fallen in love. She gets in his way, he yells at her, he gets drunk and she smiles. It’s all really charming I assure you, except that it’s not.
She falls in love with a guy that yells at her like she’s a child and questions her every thought. Being that she is an Interpol agent he seems a bit weary to explain his whole backstory of committing crimes. But he does anyway and their love is so strong she decides not to turn him in. They can live a normal life together, right?
7. Dave Franco idolizes Jesse Eisenberg
Don’t get me wrong, I am actually in love with Jesse Eisenberg and my attraction to Jewish guys certainly plays into that but this makes no sense. It’s not that Franco could or should never look up to the likes of Eisenberg but well actually no, I don’t think he ever would. When you look like a better version of James Franco a twitchy, skinny curly haired twenty something isn’t really cause for worship.
I think Eisenberg can be amazing but semi-straightening his hair and giving him screen time with chesty women does make a leading man. It’s endlessly awkward. I had hopes that he could break out being typecast as the nerd who can’t sit still but I don’t think he can.
The relationship between Franco and Eisenberg would have made more sense if they switched roles. For now, we’ll just enjoy Eisenberg on talk shows with shaky hands swiveling in his chair when he should probably just stay still.
8. Isla Fisher wears gloves
She wears gloves through the entire movie. For no reason. It’s never explained. And it’s distracting. In fact, it seems rather douchey. Someone out there please tell me this is a throwback to something in the magicians circle and not a fashion statement.
9. It tries to be funny
There are countless times in Now You See Me where my audience was overcome with joy at the cleverness and supposed comedy sprinkled throughout. So much so they actually did the “I have to clap and laugh because this is just so clever!” move. I guarantee you nothing in this movie was funny or clever. They are more moments where you slouch down in your seat wondering why you walked into the theater to begin with.
10. Dylan Rhodes tries to be Tony Stark
Iron Man gets away with a lot of the technological wonders on screen because Tony Stark is supposed to be a super genius. He exists in a comic book world where having an arc-reactor in his chest works on a daily basis. That is not the world that Now You See Me occupies.
So when it tries to throw in cards that when waved in front of each other activate an entire carousel to turn on I can only shake my head. Not to mention there are holograms. The movie has random bits of technology that make you wonder is Dylan Rhodes a magician or actually Bruce Banner using some of Starks toys on a Sunday funday?
Now You See Me wants to think it makes some grand statement about magicians and how cool they can be but only really shows us that magic sucks and you need a computer to make people pee themselves.
11. The FBI is incredibly dumb
I know everybody loves to shit on the government and suggests they are incapable of basic tasks but this is the FBI and magicians are outsmarting them. In fact magicians are MULTIPLE steps ahead of EVERYBODY. I say this because Eisenberg expresses this in some ridiculous line about how the FBI will never catch up to their “3 steps ahead” minds.
You can’t just get into the FBI because you know a guy who knows the guy. They are actually smart people and to portray them as having no idea how to find their way out of a paper bag is wrong. These FBI agents give Corky Romano a run for his money.
The movie tries to overshadow how dumb the Four Horsemen are by playing off stupidity with another group. The jig is up guys; I’m on to you.
12. Time Square is a hideout
At the end of the movie after they have take their final bow the Four Horsemen end up in Time Square watching news footage of their great escape. Alright, so you’ve become a national sensation sending shockwaves across the masses and you just made your dashing escape. Where to go, where to go? TIME SQUARE OF COURSE! No one will see you there!
It’s not that they spend an abundance of time there but they spend over 10 seconds, which is dangerous. If we are to believe they have become the famous rebels the movie paints them out to be then heading to a part of New York City constantly filled with people seems ridiculous. The camera pans around in classic Leterrier style emphasizing that every screen is showing footage of their last trick.
Every time I find myself in a pickle trying to outrun the FBI crowds of people are where I head first.
13. There is no mystery or suspense
Some of the greatest mystery films are that way because the audience gets a chance to work things out on their own. There also isn’t the light bulb moment where one characters explains how things got from point A to B.
In Now You See Me, not only is there that character but he delivers this speech over and over. Morgan Freeman acts as the all knowing being that just can’t help but connect all the dots for you.
What fun is this while watching a movie? He constantly ends up explaining how the Four Horsemen pulled off all their miraculous tricks, step by step. This is accompanied by brief cuts of exactly what he’s saying. It’s like listening to director’s commentary where he or she narrates what is happening in the movie. There is no work left to be done by the audience and this leaves room to drift off thinking about what you’re having for dinner tomorrow.
This is why moviegoers have become lazy and the art of ambiguous endings have gone by the wayside. Many viewers need everything spelled out for them and those are the ones that enjoy a movie such as this. On some level they think it’s smart and they feel smarter. In fact many will exclaim “Oh yeah that’s how I thought they did it” but in reality this is the dumbing down of all things great. Every time Freeman would speak I felt like I was watching Shutter Island and Ben Kinglsey had brought out his chalkboard.
14. Characters endlessly square off
We got an earful of this in the trailer as each character spits out countless puns about magic. I mean after all the first rule of magic…..
Let’s not even get into the title of the movie. A majority of the dialogue consist of two characters squaring off making mini-jokes about magic and what it all means. It’s like playing the game where you’re only allowed to speak in the form of questions. Ultimately it’s hard to actually get anywhere which is great for a movie right?????
Every actor delivers these quips with such seriousness it makes you wonder if there are endless outtakes where they turn to camera and ask, “Seriously?” There is having fun and then there is ruining everything. Now You See Me doesn’t even walk a fine line, it dives into the latter.
I’ve come to one conclusion about this movie, it’s for stupid people who think they’re smart and have a great sense of humor. Many will walk away talking about how Now You See Me had them on the edge of their seat and that they were genuinely surprised with the twist. Others will end up like me, having restless nights thinking of fourteen more reasons this movie is a giant pile of shit. In the end I kind of wish I could look past these issues and enjoy myself. But then I realize I don’t want to be stupid and for every ten Now You See Me’s there is one film out there that can bring that feeling of hope back.
Thank you.
I saw this piece of shit and was infuriated at how insulting and stupid it was, and most critics I’ve read seem to not care that it makes no sense at all. Like you said, why would these people risk their lives and jail time to join some secret club. Woody Harrelson was extorting money at the beginning of the film and Dave Franco was robbing people – how did they decide to give their lives to a cause they really shouldn’t know anything about? And Jesse Eisenberg and Isla Fisher had great careers – why give those up?
And the whole Dave Franco-Mark Ruffalo-fight-and-chase-scene served no purpose but to deliver Mark Ruffalo a clue that could have been left at the apartment for him to find.
There was so much more that was wrong with this film. Everything you say is spot on, and there’s still more to be pointed out (my personal most infuriating moment: why have Morgan Freeman pretend to get caught filming the performance? What point was there to him drawing attention to himself? He was already secretly filming it with a different camera, why not just pan over him and his assistant instead of hitting us over the head with it?)
Now I’m pissed off again.
As I said, thank you for assuring me that at least one other person recognized how crappy this turd of a movie really was.
You have no idea what a good movie involves! Shut up!!!
No, you’re wrong and he’s right. This movie was crap. And telling someone on the internet to “shut up” is really stupid.
Hahah ‘shut up’ lelz. nice one.
Not to be a prick, but this was based off opinion. So right away part of this review fails. Secondly a few of the points were clearly not thought over. The fight with Ruffalo? Guess who did it, the street magician who straight up or s people. That one totally isn’t going to have any fighting skills or method of defending himself if shit goes wrong. Next, technology. Part of the reason magic works is because we don’t understand it. So some of The Eye has fucking rad technological skills. And didn’t share them with the world. The movie constantly explains half of these points and you just kind of chose to ignore it. Bad review, 1/5.
Awesome review. I tolerated the movie with lightheartedness but I was treated like a 7 year old when they fed me that “oh just kidding. Babies come from pelicans” explanation.
You obviously just wanted to rant half of the reasons you gave were *wait for it* bullshit. I saw this movie and it was amazing and I actually like Mark Ruffalos character change he was still charming and endearing. So as polite as I can be please kindly fuck off. Much appreciated thanks for nothing.
I loved it, the whole plot was a metaphor!!I love all great literature and this movie was a lot like classic novels and stories. Anyone who says that this movie was anything less than amazing is a philistine!!
Are you for real? Please. This movie was a steaming turd. No metaphor. Just crap.
If you think this movie was clever, You’re clearly the piece of shit.
So as rude as I can be, go fuck yourself cunt.
it was an awful movies, and anyone involved with this piece of shit should never work on movies ever again.
I actually think this is one of the worst movies ever made. It isn’t amazing at all. It’s rank amateur crap. It’s full of plot holes, has a shit plot anyway, and I have never wanted to see a group be smeared onto a sidewalk with a bulldozer as much as I wanted to see this lot flattened. I was actually hoping Rhodes would turn on them in the end, expose them and ruin their reputations, but no, they jumped on the carousel to wonderland and fucked off into the sky. Shit movie, shit characters, shit ending.
Asshat!!
I saw this for Isla Fisher’s rack, legs and arse and was also dissapointed.
The Illuminati is ruining movies, there I said it…
First it was Batman… DKR. Christopher Nolan, we all know you’re better than that… Smh. Dafuq…
Now You See Me…. A movie about a bunch of Illusionists who pull off a heist…. Gets you excited don’t it? Like an Ocean’s Eleven with David Blaine and Derren Brown, so I ask you…. How in the hell do you mess that up?!? With a premise like that how exactly do you end up with this hot mess that makes you walk away feeling like you just got Punk’d by Ashton the douche? Wtf did I just watch?!? *I* can literally write a better movie with absolutely zero experience while I sit on the toilet taking a dump simultaneously smoking a cigarette while 98% of my focus is on exerting just enough pressure needed to release my bowels but to avoid the upward splash — just one free hand scribbling away on toilet paper and I will have managed to deliver something remotely close to what people were expecting, seriously….
I actually enjoyed the movie! And I love Isla Fisher’s leather gloves — purely for sartorial purposes. I actually stumbled upon this post because I was trying to find out where to buy a specific pair that she was wearing. As to why her character was wearing them in the first place, I just presumed she had a germ phobia.
Just saw this horrible movie it was so pointless and dumb yet people like this crap.. Makes you think less of people haha
I am happy I didnt see this in the cinema. This is the most disgraceful movie for the illusion/heist genre. It pisses me off to see people talk about this shit movie like its one of the best mind blowing crap out there. I see shit load of facebook updates about this, man its annoying. I am glad I am not the only person who feels this way! thank you internet! thank you sir!
Yep this movie was irrefutable shit.
I barely spend time on facebook but I whole heartedly would support an entire group dedicated to making the statement that this was horrible trash. At some point I will be killing my facebook profile and I can’t think of a better way to spend my last remaining time on the site.
GARBAGE MOVE GARBAGE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE MORGAN FREEMAN SLEPT DURING AN INTERVIEW GARBAGE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE THANKYOU MORGAN FREEMAN FOR NARRATING A MONTAGE AFTER EVERY SCENE YOU WERENT IN SO THE SUBJECT MATTER COULD BE BROKEN DOWN AFTER THE SCENE EVERY FIVE MINUTES THROUGH INTENSE DIALOGUE AS IF YOU RIPPED OCEANS ELEVEN EXPLANATION SCENE AND BURT GOT BURT WUNDERSTONED ON CHRIS ANGEL DUST AND LOOPED IT FOR THE DURATION OF THE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE
WHY IS THERE NO OPTION TO EDIT MY POST GARBAGE MOVIE GARBAGE MOVIE
YES HER RACK WAS NICE
You gave this “movie” too much credit! I told my girl every “twist” the movie would have within the first half hour! Im still sad:+
On a bright note I also rented Oblivion and was pleasently supprised
One of the lamest moments ever was when the FBI agent said, “abracadabra, I’m taking over”. This is embarrassingly bad.
Am I the only one who felt like they were watching an episode of Through the Wormhole? This movie was such a complete shit fest.
Hey. I didn’t HATE it like you did, it was kind of entertaining cause of the action, music, Isla Fisher being hot… But when it was over, I suddenly thought: That actually sucked pretty badly. Especially the Times Square scene in the ending was utterly retarded. Why would nobody notice the world’s 3 most looked after persons? Meh. Just meh. I would give it 5.5/10 cause of the production, but the movie sucked, really.
This is by far the worst movie I watched in 2013. It’s absolute dog shit. Complete waste of actors. I seriously didn’t like anyone’s performance. The editing was horrific and so was the camera work. I mean seriously wtf. 95 percent of the movie is spent on panning camera and crane shots, it was so frigging annoying. Plot and story was utter bullshit. I can go on and on how bad this movie was. To all who think this is a good movie… Go watch the prestige and Italian job…. First 10 minutes of prestige alone beats the entire movie length of now you see me…..
This movie is great in every way. It’s clever and funny. Pretty much all of these statements of yours I disagree with. You obviously are experiencing loads of negativity in real life, and think that most people are stupid and dislike that there is something called “mainstream” that you think is stupid, which isn’t since it’s natural thinking that way. Start accepting yourself, start accepting people in general, and you will be much happier. See the good in life god damnit.
This review is just about trying to find bad things that aren’t there.
An example: “Oh no, that girl had gloves, and that’s one of the reasons the movie sucked.” Get a grip damnit. I bet you hate Justin Bieber too. Focus on getting better yourself and try your best to succeed with whatever your goals in life are. GET A freakin grip!
“I bet you hate Justin Bieber too.”
LOL. I thought you were being serious until I read that line. Nice one, bro!
I don’t agree at all. I just loved this movie.
1- First of all I think this is a very personal reason. I do think that he is handsome.
2- Again, it’s not objective.
3- Well, I like that. It’s not a good reason to say that a movie is a shit…
4- They are not stupid, they are passionate.
5- That is so american. You can not show a movie to an american boy without action.
6- A movie without romance is boring.
7- Well, nothing to say because I don’t understand why this is an argue.
8- So what ? Maybe she was burnt because of her magic activity, we don’t know and seriously this is not important -_-
9- I think he is, but I’m not objective, I love the character.
etc…
sorry for my english but I had to answer.
The first time I saw this movie, I really liked it. Probably because of the twist ending. But I didn’t particularly like the fact that they used more cgi tricks than allusions(the cards in the tree were especially fake feeling). I was pumped to see it again so I could discover clues or irony I had missed the first time (like fight club or something) but after watching it again, I just saw all the plot wholes, and shoddy storyline that doesn’t make sense. The reason why no one would guess the cop is the master with a plan is because he had no reason to do so. All through out the movie each individual character motivation was incessantly non-existent. Each ending scene was worst than the last! The magician’s cards hop out of their hands into a tree, and then jump onto a carousel. What?!! Where does it take them, to another dimension maybe??? It’s inconceivable. Hah and the costume the cop takes on in paris? He looks like a sleezy dude. And then he just says it the whole thing was to avenge his father. He would be so proud if he could see his son. Hiring people to do his dirty work, being able to glide through prison cells without an assistant or any noise. Don’t see it twice because it just takes the fun out of it…
Thank God I’m not the last person on earth who thought this piece if shitcrap was shitcrap. When a movie involving ‘magic’ (and a magic roundabout), has you appreciating that ‘magic’ fuckwit David Blaine, you know you’re in a world of hurt. I just about managed to make it through by treating the cash flying about in their ‘shows’ as giving the audience what they wanted. Their money back. They fared a lot better than me.
This movie didn’t even have the courtesy to be in the ‘so bad it’s good’ mould. I would have respected that. Instead it limps along like a wounded animal that doesn’t have the guts to gnaw off of it’s one remaining leg.
Not happy.
Well, I’m sorry, but I liked Now You See Me, and everyone here seems to complain about the plot holes. At first, I thought so too. But then I realised that there weren’t any plot holes, because they were all either explained, or just common sense. Could someone please point out what most people are ranting about, so I can understand what’s so bad about it anyway?
I just finished watching “Now You See Me” and I was absolutely ticked off. I love a surprise ending but only when it makes sense. “Now You See Me” was ridiculous. Making this all about Dylan getting weird revenge and initiating two magicians and two hucksters into a special club was lame. A surprise ending should have a moderate rabbit trail of clues. Are we supposed to be surprised that Dylan was the guy in the hoodie? Lame. It reminded me of the movie “Urban Legend” where they decided to pick the most unlikely character to be the killer after all the clues to everyone else dried up at their untimely death.
The pacing is one of my biggest problem with this movie. It’s supposed to be a Mystery/Thriller (according to IMDB) but it has an action movie pacing, which makes no room for any of the characters to develop or for the twist (believe me, i use some terms very loosely) to have any weight.
It’s like getting a good movie like The Usual Suspects and trying to remake it in the pace of Crank. It will be utterly and completely magnificent shit.
The dialogue is just terrible, all of the characters lines are just thrown on the movie, with complete disregard for the last scene you just experienced, making the “jokes” (i did it again) so obvious and predictable that you are cringing in embarassment even before the the characters said them. The same happens with the supposedly cool or heavy dialogues, you can see them a mile away since most (if not all) the movie lines are a mashed disgusting brown paste of cliche and bad acting. The lines would probably be half bad if the rhythm of the movie wasn’t so fucked up, the movie will many times cut to a character just so he can say his shitty line and them back to what was happening before the cut, making the lines not interesting to say the least
The magic tricks are just ridiculous, it’s like the writers knew that they couldn’t make interesting or surprising tricks so they just decided to make them obvious so the audience can feel like they are smart for seeing through it. And dear god they do waaaaaaay too many tricks during the movie, it’s like if in Oceans Eleven they robbed the 3 casinos separately. By the time they reach the third casino, you just don’t care anymore. Their magic tricks are so ridiculously dumb that you begin to think that their best magic tricks are the ones with no importance on the movie (like transforming the rabbit in a hat).
About the characters in this movie, they are so bad that is almost unfair to talk about them, but I will do it anyway. Ruffalo’s character (and all of the FBI to be quite honest) are so incompetent that it’s just sad, it’s like the writers decided to ridicule them on purpose, reminding me of the police from The Mask, I was constantly waiting to watch them dance Cuban Pete with Jim Carrey but it didn’t happen. As for the team of magicians, the Four Horsemen, their characters have no exchanges of opinions or ideas through the whole movie, they don’t suffer any crysis or even have any lines between themselves, I laughed so hard in a scene that Jesse Eisenberg says to Dave Franco “aren’t you always complaining about being treated as an adult”, because that sort of complaint and behavior isn’t shown on the whole movie as they rarely even talk to each other.
It’s like The Four horsemen are just characters summaries, their personalities are so uni-dimensional and you don’t see any character development or anything abouth them aside from their introduction in the movie. The trailers make it seem like they are the main characters of the movie, but instead of seeing a movie about a team of robbers, it’s a movie about a shallow romance of an incompetent FBI agent.
This is possibly one of the worst movies i ever watched, it’s just so flawed and it’s supposed to be serious, i don’t know how they could have made such a shitty work with such an cool and easy to do premise, almost any story that you can think about a group of magicians that rob a bank during a live show will be cool. It’s a terrible movie, with terrible characters, terrible rhythm, terrible story with an easy and cool premise.
This is the crappiest movie I have ever seen in my life …
Well … actually, I only saw the first 15 minutes of it and then deleted this crap from my harddisk.
Luckily I didn’t pay for it, as it was a torrent download.
So you just happened to guess the FBI agent was the leader of the four horseman? I happen to love the movie so take your bullshit because some people like that movie… So shut your mouth because your talking bull!
Why do people who defend the movie not leave behind any reasons why they liked it?
Thank you. Thank you. THANK YOU.
I generally don’t comment or critique movies, even though they are bad. But this one is just insultingly bad. I had to check Rotten Tomatoes three times to see if I wasn’t wrong in seeing that the film actually had people writing good reviews about it.
It’s not even hilariously bad (like Sharknado is), it’s insultingly bad.
The characters were incredibly flat with little to no character. Is this the fault of the script? The director? I don’t know – but it’s something not even actors like Morgan or Michael Cane can save. In fact, I just lost a lot of respect for them for either deciding to act in this movie and/or their skills (well, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt – the script was bad).
I like your point about characters being extremely unlikable. They just were not likable. I liked Jesse’s performance in The Social Network because he actually had a likable character (despite his cockiness). In this movie, he was like needlessly and arrogantly cocky. The other characters were just flat and unlikable as well, even.. Morgan and Michael.
….I can probably think of 30 more things why this movie is utter shit. You covered 14 of them already. I was holding out till the end to make my judgement, but even that it was utter shit.
The Prestige was great even without the final prestige. The prestige at the end only added to it – and the twist made SENSE.
This movie is shit. Don’t watch it.
So, I just watched this movie, and I wanted to like it so badly, I really did. If for nothing more than my love for Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson. For the most part, I worked beyond the nauseating use of CGI to represent magic t4icks, I worked beyond the horrible acting and writing from the beginning up until about the final half hour. Then it occurs to me that I am watching a completely horrible movie. All of the plot twists at the end make me squeal with disappointment. I feel like Lemongrab shouting, “UNACCEPTABLE!”
It WOULD have made more sense had the mastermind been an alien leader of the Eye of Horus, or even Paul McCartney. For the fans of this movie, stop saying the horrible reviews of this movie don’t matter because it’s all opinion-based. Any and every review for anything has been heavily opinion-based, which is why people who write reviews are known as critics. I honestly went into and sat through the movie WANTING SO BADLY to like it. But the way it ended up pooping on my brain left me feeling sorry for the truly talented people who helped make it. I associate Mr. Freeman and Mr. Harrelson with a higher esteem for working on projects with a lot more substance. Now I’m so disturbed by what I’ve seen just minutes ago, that im ranting on in a comments section for a review that just reenforces the way I feel inside. Tisk-tisk.
I saw this the other night (thank you free HBO preview!) and enjoyed it in a so-bad-its-good sort of way. Deeply stupid and illogical everywhere you turn, and just so over the top in every single shot I began to enjoy it for its excesses and lack of logic.
Are we perhaps missing the point with this movie? Is it intentionally trying to be camp?
One definition of ‘camp’ given by Webster’s is “a style or mode of personal or creative expression that is absurdly exaggerated and often fuses elements of high and popular culture”.
That sounds like this movie – its got a heist, sci-fi, action, cop drama, cop romance, docuhe bags, michael Caine, etc etc and ‘absurdly exaggerated’ could be a mission statement for the making of this movie.
So is Now You See Me in fact a camp masterpiece or do the producers really think we’re that stupid?
I know, they probably do think we’re really that stupid lol
One of the dumbest fucking movies I’ve ever seen. I especially disliked the the four horsemen (Isla Fischer to note) laughing and joking as they’re assaulting federal agents and wrecking cars throughout NYC.
Seriously. One of the dumbest movies I’ve ever seen.
This movie truly did seem to be cut together so poorly, I kept waiting for something important to happen, but it was all utter nonsense mixed together in a nice dress.
Great review! I agree 100% you put my thoughts into words. This was an excruciatingly bad movie (albiet with a decent cast) which took great care to insult the intelligence of the audience at every given opportunity. Once area this movie did triumph in was the when it came to style over substance, on that score it receives an A+ as it is all style and f all substance. Unlikable, underdeveloped arrogant character abound in this waste of talent. None of these actors need the money so it begs the question why degrade your reputation by appearing in this dross?
I agree with all those who have stated that this is indeed the biggest heap of dogshit I have ever watched. The plot, acting, characters everything about it was shockingly shit shit shit SHIT!!!!
p.s. worst movie ever!
It’s a mildly entertaining but so full of flaws or unbelievable acts that it will make you feel less smart (or dumber) after seeing it. I’m flipping though the channels and it’s on Cinemax as I’m typing this. Once I’m done I’m going back to channel surfing.
WHAT AN INFURIATING PIECE OF GARBAGE this movie is. I think the article is waaay to soft on this insulting, shambolic mess of ridiculous plot twists, idiotic storyline, arrogant and insufferable characters with horrible acting to boot. A director who can make Morgan Freeman look bad deserves to be locked up in an asylum.
They think they can just throw together som high profile actors, som CGI and a bit of magic and poof! you’ve got a hit everybody’ll go see. Sadly everybody did. I weep for mankind…
The big rabbit box Sven was part of the problem
The FBI agents would’ve glanced at their reflections
It explored some interesting concepts, but it was just too
Over the Top.
When I saw the trailer I was expecting the plot to take a different route to say the least.
It took a few shots at the skeptic community I thought were innacurate, not the bribe scene.
It seems the trailer promised me one thing but the film ended on a sour note.
I’m glad I don’t get worked up over unimportant things like how some movies are unrealistic. We’re living in a socially engineered matrix where virtually everything presented by the TV talking heads is nothing but lies to help the globalist cabal enslave humanity and depopulate the planet.
Not only do I find it utterly impossible to exert so much personal concern and negative energy on a work of fiction, but sometimes I enjoy the escape of purely meaningless entertainment from the truly bizarre reality that is life on earth.
Let’s face it. There are movies that are in the realm of the believable and those that are not. I don’t automatically hate movies that belong to the latter category. Of course there were many plot points where I said, “Yeah, right,” but they didn’t stop me from enjoying the story, the production, the slickness, the CGI, et al.
It was escapist fun and I enjoyed it.
I totally agree… The ending was so stupid I wanted to shoot myself for choosing that movie… What a waste of good actors!!!
This article needs a serious punctuation check. Makes it painful to read.
Oh, I do agree with the article, though! But that’s why the horrible punctuation annoys me. The content is good, but the read is annoying.
Even just thinking about this movie makes me want to jump in front of a moving bus! I felt depressed and pissed off at the world and now us a human race hast to endure a part two? I’m done. I’m going to jump in front of that bus now! See you world!
this is the best movie i have ever seen. by the way dave franco is so hot
I am thankful for this movie. It’s the most efficiently compiled and organized tome of movie mistakes ever made, and will be an educational resource for aspiring writers and directors on every single thing not to do. Bravo!
I have enjoyed diarrhea more.
There seem to be a lot of people who consider themselves intelligent on this page. Could one of the smarter people please explain this GIGANTIC plot hole? (And I would LOVE to discover that I am actually an idiot because this isn’t a plot hole after all. It would legit make my night.)
Here it is:
The French girl says that Lionel Shrike’s body was never found. Then, at the end, Ruffalo says that he was trapped in a poorly made safe and died while it was underwater. Theoretically, Ruffalo’s family or assistant or someone could have taken the safe away the moment after Shrike died, but barring the renting of a crane, wetsuits, scuba tanks, and the purchasing of very, very long high tension cables, this makes no sense at all.
To make it worse, the French girl doesn’t even question him when he explains this.
Btw, I understand a lot of the vitriole for this movie. However, instead of just saying, “Yeah, there are tons of other plot holes, too! That’s why this movie stinks!!!” could someone–a fan, perhaps–explain the inconsistency regarding the body of Ruffalo’s dad? Thanks, smart people.
Well, all I can say is that you didn’t understand the plot of the movie. What have been they telling all along? “The closer you look, the less you see.” Don’t be an ignorant asshole who thinks that his reviewing “skills” are that great and interesting. But you can still practice.
I had so, so, SO much to say… But I’ll narrow it down to two points of contention that somehow bothered me the most:
1. If I were at a ‘magic show’ and someone put thousands of ADMITTEDLY stolen dollars in my bank account, I wouldn’t be thinking “Ka-Ching!” I’d be thinking, “Oh shit. My privacy was violated. I’ve been hacked, and the FBI is going to freeze my account for who knows how long to sort this out!”
2. Why did they send Morgan Freeman back to the 1830s, to go to jail? Seriously, what the hell was that place?
They sucked the fun out of magic. I want to believe. Not that magic is real, but that people like David Blaine aren’t assholes looking to rob an easy mark.