As far as the story goes, there is actually a lot of potential in Now You See Me 2. It's not long before Rhodes has to give up his role in the FBI and focus entirely on being a Horseman, there's a handful of new players in addition to Lulu, and almost everyone from the first movie returns (although the Interpol agent isn't even mentioned). There's plenty of twists at play in this movie. Too many in my opinion. Rather than build-up mystery and intrigue, it just throws twist after twist at you. Some of them are great, some of them are awful (great being the identity of the new villain's father, awful being the figurehead of The Eye; the mysterious organisation of magicians).
Similarly some of the new characters are great, while others are awful. I was sad to hear that Isla Fisher wasn't returning as Henley. There's a reasonably plausible explanation as to why she's not around, but I'd rather have still had her around, even if it was in a reduced capacity or cameo. That said, Lizzy Caplan's Lulu is a worthy replacement. She adds a lot of much needed energy and quirkiness to the group that, without her, would have seemed incredibly dull and uninteresting. I'd probably go so far as to say she's the best character of the whole movie. With all the antagonists of the first movie out the way, Now You See Me 2 needed a new one, and Daniel Radcliffe's Walter Mabry is brilliant. Just like Caplan, he brings a surprising amount of energy to the movie, and his borderline sociopathic villain makes for a brilliant foil.
Then there's Chase McKinney, Merritt's twin brother, also played by Woody Harrelson, who is a dreadful and pointless addition. He's Harrelson at his most goofy and annoying, and that awful wig certainly doesn't help. Not only that, but he serves no purpose in the movie, no purpose that couldn't have been served by someone else at least. The best comparison I can think of to a similar character is Alfrid in The Battle of Five Armies, who's only purpose was to bring cringeworthy and completely humourless comedy to an otherwise fairly serious movie, cheapening the whole experience.
The returning cast are all back to what they do best, and honestly I'm surprised that even if they did all phone it in for the paycheck, it's not immediately obvious. Mark Ruffalo probably gets the most opportunity to add depth to his character of Dylan Rhodes, particularly after his status quo completely shifts early on. Morgan Freeman chews up the scenery as usual as a personal antagonist to Rhodes, and they share some great scenes together. Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson all do great as the rest of the horsemen, but they sorely lacked any character development at all, resulting in each of their characters becoming little more than empty shells trundled around at behest of the plot.
The real draw for me, and I'm sure many others too, was the magic tricks. These imaginative and fluid tricks made the first movie so enjoyable, even when they flirted with the plainly unbelievable, giving it that edge of pure fantasy that I really dug. Now You See Me 2 is a bit of a disappointment in that regard, as there isn't really a whole lot of magic. Their first show back is thwarted before they really get to do much (although I admit the build-up was entertaining). Beyond little easter eggs and teases here and there, that's it until the third act. Okay, we get an entertaining exchange of cards in a high security lab between them, but it goes on entirely too long (seriously, how many times can you search one body over and over), and is ultimately pointless, because they seem to just keep passing the card to the person next being searched, when really the first guy should've kept hold of it after cleverly keeping it out of sight. When we do get a promise of some magic, they almost always get interrupted. What was great last time was seeing these tricks play out to their end and the Horsemen getting away with it. This time they never get to finish anything as Mabry's men or the police always seem to barge in, and any getaways they have are similarly thwarted with ease. When they all coalesced onto motorcycles I sat up in my seat ready for a nailbiting car chase through the streets of London, but they don't even get out of the car park. The imaginative and well-prepared Horsemen seem to get outsmarted constantly this time, and that was just frustrating.
I enjoyed Now You See Me 2 for the most part, and I am eager to see the third instalment if it gets made, but I can't deny that this second movie was a bit of a mess. It had far too many twists and turns, returning characters became dull and indistinguishable (somehow), and the fun of grand magic was completely absent. The action benefited a lot from John M Chu and his history of highly choreographed movies, but he was near useless at handling anything else the script threw at him I give Now You See Me 2 a slightly disappointing 6/10.
P.S. I still can't believe they didn't call it "Now You See Me Too" or "Now You Don't". Even the original title of "Now You See Me: The Second Act" would have been a bit more imaginative.
Similarly some of the new characters are great, while others are awful. I was sad to hear that Isla Fisher wasn't returning as Henley. There's a reasonably plausible explanation as to why she's not around, but I'd rather have still had her around, even if it was in a reduced capacity or cameo. That said, Lizzy Caplan's Lulu is a worthy replacement. She adds a lot of much needed energy and quirkiness to the group that, without her, would have seemed incredibly dull and uninteresting. I'd probably go so far as to say she's the best character of the whole movie. With all the antagonists of the first movie out the way, Now You See Me 2 needed a new one, and Daniel Radcliffe's Walter Mabry is brilliant. Just like Caplan, he brings a surprising amount of energy to the movie, and his borderline sociopathic villain makes for a brilliant foil.
Then there's Chase McKinney, Merritt's twin brother, also played by Woody Harrelson, who is a dreadful and pointless addition. He's Harrelson at his most goofy and annoying, and that awful wig certainly doesn't help. Not only that, but he serves no purpose in the movie, no purpose that couldn't have been served by someone else at least. The best comparison I can think of to a similar character is Alfrid in The Battle of Five Armies, who's only purpose was to bring cringeworthy and completely humourless comedy to an otherwise fairly serious movie, cheapening the whole experience.
The returning cast are all back to what they do best, and honestly I'm surprised that even if they did all phone it in for the paycheck, it's not immediately obvious. Mark Ruffalo probably gets the most opportunity to add depth to his character of Dylan Rhodes, particularly after his status quo completely shifts early on. Morgan Freeman chews up the scenery as usual as a personal antagonist to Rhodes, and they share some great scenes together. Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson all do great as the rest of the horsemen, but they sorely lacked any character development at all, resulting in each of their characters becoming little more than empty shells trundled around at behest of the plot.
The real draw for me, and I'm sure many others too, was the magic tricks. These imaginative and fluid tricks made the first movie so enjoyable, even when they flirted with the plainly unbelievable, giving it that edge of pure fantasy that I really dug. Now You See Me 2 is a bit of a disappointment in that regard, as there isn't really a whole lot of magic. Their first show back is thwarted before they really get to do much (although I admit the build-up was entertaining). Beyond little easter eggs and teases here and there, that's it until the third act. Okay, we get an entertaining exchange of cards in a high security lab between them, but it goes on entirely too long (seriously, how many times can you search one body over and over), and is ultimately pointless, because they seem to just keep passing the card to the person next being searched, when really the first guy should've kept hold of it after cleverly keeping it out of sight. When we do get a promise of some magic, they almost always get interrupted. What was great last time was seeing these tricks play out to their end and the Horsemen getting away with it. This time they never get to finish anything as Mabry's men or the police always seem to barge in, and any getaways they have are similarly thwarted with ease. When they all coalesced onto motorcycles I sat up in my seat ready for a nailbiting car chase through the streets of London, but they don't even get out of the car park. The imaginative and well-prepared Horsemen seem to get outsmarted constantly this time, and that was just frustrating.
I enjoyed Now You See Me 2 for the most part, and I am eager to see the third instalment if it gets made, but I can't deny that this second movie was a bit of a mess. It had far too many twists and turns, returning characters became dull and indistinguishable (somehow), and the fun of grand magic was completely absent. The action benefited a lot from John M Chu and his history of highly choreographed movies, but he was near useless at handling anything else the script threw at him I give Now You See Me 2 a slightly disappointing 6/10.
P.S. I still can't believe they didn't call it "Now You See Me Too" or "Now You Don't". Even the original title of "Now You See Me: The Second Act" would have been a bit more imaginative.