Usually
rather popular things are thought to have no hidden meaning or rather good
things are not popular enough. I`m going
to take sometimes some of them for a discussion.
The
Eighteenth - "Look closer". Monologue about the "Now You See
Me" movie.
Well, recently I decided to go to the cinema mostly not in order to watch something particular, but just for a company. So, "Now You See Me" was chosen, being the least disappointing among the others. And so it was, but…
Generally speaking, "Now You See Me" resembles quite many movies of this kind, like it consists of their parts, but used them wrong. Just look how it was made here and there.
1. “Now You See Me” VS. “Ocean`s Eleven”
The "Ocean`s Eleven" is not about magicians, but anyway those professionals were not less smart. What does "Ocean`s" present to us? A challenge, an aim for the challenge, the real aim of the challenge, which the main character tends to hide, preparations for the show and the show itself.
What about "Now You See Me"?
The first thing we see is the show. It is fascinating, but the following explanation is not satisfying at all. A former magician, whose job is to deprive other magicians of their jobs, explained just the depository and the money things. What is more, explanation of disappearance of the money in France is very doubtful!
1) How did they make the self-ignitable paper ignite when they wanted to?
2) Why wasn`t the ticket for the show burnt with all of the self-ignitable money, as it was made of an ordinary paper?
3) Finally, considering the point, that drivers in vans are generally complete dummies, where the hell was the security check, when the bloody well-made fake money arrived at the bank?!
Questions like those make the whole story quite improbable.
(Also the 3D projection and light tricks are also improbable.)
Secondly, the reason why the whole story took place seemed to be avoided at all. The Four Horsemen themselves recall it occasionally. To put it more precisely, they recall that they know neither whom they are working for, nor why! The fairy-tale about The Eye is so lame, that I felt, that even the screen writer didn`t know where it went and hide the ending behind mirrors, steam and bright light.
2. "Now You See Me" VS. "The Prestige"
The greatest thing about "The Prestige" is that the ending is unexpected at all! There were some clues from the beginning of the movie, of course, but you had no idea that everything could turn that way.
What about "Now You See Me"?
Of course there`s hardly a person who can say he had clues about every little trick in the movie (if he doesn`t lie, of course:)). But, speaking about the plot itself, it is predictable to death. The FBI workers are dummies, the smart guys can`t be caught, one, who died occasionally, can`t be dead (I knew that Jack Wilder was alive), and, finally, the one, who seemed to be tricked most of all, appeared to be the main swindler himself (I began to suspect him in the end). The impression was ruined from the beginning, when we were shown tricks of Henley Reeves (who just couldn`t die there, in no way), Jack Wilder (whom I didn`t believe, because he, being so bad at tricks, couldn`t be chosen) and Merritt McKinney (hypnotists are not magicians at all!)
The very best and the only great moment in the movie was the first trick by J. Daniel Atlas. And that`s not because I like him or something (I`ve seen him only in The Social Network and wasn`t truly amazed), but because that`s the only moment we see a real connection with the audience. You take part in the trick - you choose a card, and finally it`s the one you`ve chosen! Besides, that`s the only trick that remains unexplained:) That`s the moment I`m going to remember.
3. "Now You See Me" VS. “The Illusionist”
The main line of The Illusionist is the love line. It goes through the whole story, and is the main aim of the magician and all of his tricks.
What about "Now You See Me"?
Even though magic tricks are said to be living true magic, making people believe, it is hardly the real reason why. The magicians seem only to care about fame, money and some kind of justice. They chase some kind of The Eye, hoping to get some benefits, a fortune probably or a paradise for magician or... God, we`ll never know that!
The love lines in the story are simple, lame and dull. A tension between a magician and former assistant in two dialogs, an office romance, caused by rivalry that couldn`t end in another way but with a kiss - that`s all we got. Well, that`s not the main point of the story (,- the screen writer thought...).
To conclude that all, neither of the characters were appealing, besides the one of Jesse Eisenberg and the one of Isla Fisher (mostly because she is extremely nice), nor the action was really fascinating. Speaking about Thaddeus Bradley, his character seemed to be a little jealous of magicians, and so he took revenge of them. His only motivation was the money, of course, even though he tried to say something about morality, that he saves the world from all those cheaters. But every magician knows well, that the spectators who watch the show usually want to be cheated on themselves.
I don`t think the movie is worth watching unless you`re a fan of particular actors or like any kind of unmasking, revealing the truth. But be sure, that you won`t get enough.
