Topic: "Now You See Me" review by Zarban
NOW YOU SEE ME (2013)
Great-looking and rather novel heist movie with a great cast that is not done justice by the lackluster script. Some fun, but the story feels like it was sold with the pitch "It's an ensemble heist like Ocean's 11 crossed with the impossible nonsense (and random hot foreign chick) of National Treasure". This would be a fun one to hear WAYDM take on.
A group of street magicians/con artists get recruited by a mysterious person to become a special team of stage magicians. They stage the heist of a Parisian bank, attracting the attention of the police, who learn more or less how it was done and... immediately give up on the case. They then rip off an insurance executive they've conned. In both cases, they give the money to the audience. Then they go on the lam before a final show/heist.
The point of view varies inexpertly, sometimes trying to get us inside with the magicians to build some character, but mostly staying with the cops, where we aren't in danger of figuring out the magicians' plan. This makes Mark Ruffalo's detective the main character, which sort of works except that we have a hard time figuring out whom to root for.
To be sure, we want to see the Robin Hood heists come off, so Ruffalo and Hot Foreign Chick are the bad guys, except they're kind of likeable (not a LOT, but enough). But then out of the blue we're given reason to hate Michael Caine as the insurance executive and reason to like Morgan Freeman as an Amazing-Randi-style debunker (but a debunker of magicians??). His character is pretty minor, tho, so it's confusing.
Also, most of the magic is so impossible that it's done with CGI, so what the fuck? But then the logistics of the heists are equally unlikely.
Note to screenwriters:
If you're handcuffed to a table in a police interrogation room, you are already under arrest. You are officially detained by the police against your will.
No one, no matter how rich, keeps $140 million in an ordinary bank account. Their accountant constantly shuffles money between checking and investment accounts as it comes in and goes out.
Magicians practice their tricks. Especially the dangerous ones.
