Now You See Me: Now You Don’t was released in theatres on Nov. 14 and is the third installment in the Now You See Me franchise. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the movie stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dominic Sessa.
The movie follows the original Four Horsemen as they reunite and team up with three young magicians, Bosco, Charlie, and June. Together, the group embarks on a heist to steal the heart diamond from Veronika Vanderberg.
The Now You See Me films have always been filled with visually appealing scenes and magic tricks that seem to trick not only the characters they are performing for on screen, but also those sitting in the audience.
According to the New York Times, Ruben Fleischer, the director, enlisted the help of legacy magician Randy Pitchford to help with the filming and tricks that appear in the movie. In an effort to use as little CGI as possible, they built rooms that are used in the sequences filmed in the chateau. This made it possible for all the scenes to be achieved with practical effects rather than CGI.
It’s not just the sets that aren’t enhanced by computers or CGI. The tricks that the actors perform are also due to practical effects. In other words, if the actors were to perform the tricks right in front of your face, it would look just as cool as it does on screen. The actors spent time learning how to execute their trick so they could execute magic flawlessly on screen. In an article from Variety, actor Dave Franco talked about how he learned to throw cards. The article also contained a quote from actor Isla Fisher, in which she talked about a scene that the cast filmed for a consecutive seven minutes in which cast members had multiple tricks that all had to be executed, or they had to refilm it.
Personally, I have enjoyed all the Now You See Me films. I remember seeing the first two and wanting to go home and immediately try to learn a magic trick. It’s safe to say that I would also need some help from Ruben Fleischer before even coming close to measuring up with the Horsemen. I will say that out of all of the films, the third one has been my least favorite. While I enjoyed the introduction of new characters and, of course, the reunion of all the Horsemen from the previous films, the plot and reveal at the end felt very similar to Now You See Me 2.
All in all, I really enjoyed watching the movie as it was visually appealing, and considering lots of the visual effects and magic tricks we see are practical and not digitally enhanced, it makes them all the more impressive.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is currently in theatres everywhere. If you have a free evening, I would recommend grabbing a ticket and seeing the magic of this film for yourself. Maybe you’ll even discover a new favorite magic trick or two!