'Now You See Me' has a great premise but doesn't follow through
Four top notch magicians team up to wow audiences in Louis Leterrier’s “Now You See Me,” one of those movies with a terrific premise and a less-than-terrific follow-through. The magicians here, played by Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco, pull off Robin Hood-like extravaganzas, including the fleecing of a corrupt billionaire, played by Michael Caine.
With the FBI and Interpol on the team's tail, the film dispenses with its magic (and magical) premise and turns into a noisy smash-and-bang action thriller. There is nothing magical about seeing one’s umpteenth car chase. Mark Ruffalo plays the weirdly scruffy FBI agent on the case, while Morgan Freeman, in super-slow mode, plays a famous magic debunker. He’d make the ideal critic for this movie. Grade: C (Rated PG-13 for language, some action and sexual content.)
