Those con men movies have been a staple of the cinema and its enjoyable to see them pull the wool over others eyes making their prey think they’re something they are not and might be why such films are a favourite with Meghan Markle. Now You See Me : Now You Don’t or Now You See Me 3 as its more likely to be called has the return of the four horsemen – master showmen and illusionists who have applied their skills to getting even with the corrupt men of the world. Apparently retired and gone to ground until three new illusionists Charlie (Justice Smith), Bosco (Dominic Sessa) and June (Ariana Greenblatt) start using the four horsemen’s likeness’ to pull off their own cons. And like the original four they adopt a kind of Robin Hood approach to fleecing their wealthy victims of their ill-gotten gains and re-distributing it after taking a cut for themselves.
It’s little wonder then that they attract the attention of J Daniel Atlas ( Jesse Eisenberg ) the leader of the original four horsemen and far from happy that this trio are using his and his colleagues likenesses to attract audiences. But soon both teams find themselves pooling their skills steal the Heart diamond from a villainous business woman Veronika Vanderburg (Rosamund Pike) bringing back into the vogue the South African accent for the international bad guy. What follows is an enjoyably convoluted plot that sees the teams use their skills to pull off a series of ploys to steal the diamond and like the previous films all is not as it seems as the hop across the world and into ever increasing danger.
There’s a lot of fun to be had as they execute their illusions and cross and double cross their way through the plot. It’s all smoothly shot by director Ruben Fleischer with the secrets of their scams incorporated into the plot revealed to audiences in flashback although stretching the imagination but always enjoyably. There’s a particular sequence where each team attempts to best the other with tricks and illusions that is done in single extended shot that flows from one character to the next.
There is a sense though that with this new younger team there’s a handing over of the baton for future films and younger audiences. That the central team of the four horseman now expands to seven means that Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Woody Harrelson are reduced in their participation and perhaps a four horsemen vs the new illusionists on the block would have raised the stakes. But that aside Now You See Me 3 has enough to keep audiences engrossed despite some of the illusions pushing the boundaries of credibility.
related feature : ‘The Hustle’ – we take a look at the female remake of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’
related feature : ‘All the Devils Are Here’ – Brit gangster movie with actor Burn Gorman & director Barnaby Roper
Here’s the Now You See Me : Now You Don’t ……
