Let me start by saying that I didn't like the first "Now You See Me", but I would rate it a 6/10 just for the fact it was SOMEWHAT enjoyable. The sequel is a movie that probably nobody asked for, but yet they did it anyway. 2 hours of poorly directed and written nonsense.
SOME vague spoilers ahead, though you won't care about them at all.
THE PLOT The plot tries to twist and turn a couple of times, but it is just a straight line. To try and spice it up they tried the twist with Morgan Freeman's character, but nobody believed it, not even Mr. Freeman.
THE MAGIC A movie about magic should not be a movie about CGI, which the first movie was and now the second. The Illusionist and The Prestige were doing their magic tricks for the audience IN the movie, for the crowd in that universe. This one does the tricks just for the people watching the movie. Need to make someone disappear? Of course there will be a cut. Need to make someone escape? They simply transform into water. How? Who cares, a magician never reveals his tricks (hint: CGI).
THE LOGISTICS A bunch of random magicians can take over the whole of London on New Year's Eve in half a day without preparation. They can also somehow broadcast their tricks LIVE all over the world, on all TVs in all city centers, etc.
THE PANDERING TO THE Chinese MARKET Yes I know that "entertaining" movies nowadays always have something for the Chinese market: a character, a vase, a flashback scene, etc. But this one went all in: mystical characters that know and see everything, they help the protagonists without a second thought, etc. Oh and did I mention they are literally going to China for some reason, just to show what a great place it is?
THE HEIST SCENE (FLYING CARD) God please make it stop. A 10-minutes scene with a quintillion number of ways it can go wrong - everything works out. How to prevent a heist like that? A single security camera in the room and an underpaid guard watching it. Done.
THE FEMALE CHARACTER Jesus Christ, don't get me started on Lizzy Caplan's character. With a couple of attempts at witty lines about misogyny and discrimination, her character was a caricature of a female character.
JESSE EISENBERG No.
SOME vague spoilers ahead, though you won't care about them at all.
THE PLOT The plot tries to twist and turn a couple of times, but it is just a straight line. To try and spice it up they tried the twist with Morgan Freeman's character, but nobody believed it, not even Mr. Freeman.
THE MAGIC A movie about magic should not be a movie about CGI, which the first movie was and now the second. The Illusionist and The Prestige were doing their magic tricks for the audience IN the movie, for the crowd in that universe. This one does the tricks just for the people watching the movie. Need to make someone disappear? Of course there will be a cut. Need to make someone escape? They simply transform into water. How? Who cares, a magician never reveals his tricks (hint: CGI).
THE LOGISTICS A bunch of random magicians can take over the whole of London on New Year's Eve in half a day without preparation. They can also somehow broadcast their tricks LIVE all over the world, on all TVs in all city centers, etc.
THE PANDERING TO THE Chinese MARKET Yes I know that "entertaining" movies nowadays always have something for the Chinese market: a character, a vase, a flashback scene, etc. But this one went all in: mystical characters that know and see everything, they help the protagonists without a second thought, etc. Oh and did I mention they are literally going to China for some reason, just to show what a great place it is?
THE HEIST SCENE (FLYING CARD) God please make it stop. A 10-minutes scene with a quintillion number of ways it can go wrong - everything works out. How to prevent a heist like that? A single security camera in the room and an underpaid guard watching it. Done.
THE FEMALE CHARACTER Jesus Christ, don't get me started on Lizzy Caplan's character. With a couple of attempts at witty lines about misogyny and discrimination, her character was a caricature of a female character.
JESSE EISENBERG No.