Now You See Me Blu-ray + DVD Review

By: Lynn Barker

Ever been charmed by a great magic or “illusion” show? Four magicians find that, as single “acts”, they can’t completely blow the minds of their audiences but, as a group, they can both entertain to the max and see that their audiences get a lot of cash!

Story Goes:

Four magicians, a sleight of hand artist, escape artist, street magician and a mentalist, are contacted by a secret benefactor. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and Merritt McKinney form “The Four Horsemen” and take Las Vegas by storm.

The Four Horsemen on stage

On stage, the magicians invite a member of the audience to help them in their next trick. They’ll rob a bank!  The audience member is apparently teleported by magic to a bank safe in Paris, where he activates an air-duct that vacuums up the money and, through a magic “tunnel”, rains it down onto the crowd in Las Vegas. When the FBI investigates the robbery, the poor guy tells them he is convinced it was magic!

Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas

Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) is partnered with Interpol agent Alma Dray, and, after interrogating the “Horsemen”, nothing can be pinned on them. The robbery appears to be done by magic. Rhodes connects with famous ex-magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) who now has a TV show exposing fake magicians. He thinks the Horsemen took the money earlier then replaced it with fake money.

Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Rhodes

In New Orleans, watching the quartet of magicians closely, Rhodes, Dray and Bradley see them steal millions of bucks from their sponsor Tressler’s (Michael Caine) bank account and direct deposit it into the accounts of the entire audience! The magicians hypnotize their audience to help them escape!

Sir Michael Caine as Tressler

Rhodes and Dray’s research indicates that the Horsemen might want to join a secret society of magicians called “The Eye” and there is also a link to a once famous, now dead magician that Thaddeus Bradley once exposed and humiliated. The lawmen locate the Horsemen’s secret lair and chase Wilder all through NYC before his car flips and it appears he has died in the crash.

Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley

The Horsemen steal a safe full of money, leading the lawmen on a wild chase after a truck full of balloon animals. This time they disappear and keep the money or appear to. Outwitted and shamed, Rhodes wonders if Thaddeus is actually a 5^th Horseman when he finds the money filling his car.  Rhodes arrests Bradley who claims he was framed and explains how the group performed the safe heist through use of mirrors.

The Four Horsemen search for answers

Is Bradley the real mastermind behind the heists or is it someone we would not suspect in a million years? Will the Horsemen join “The Eye” society and keep the money or give it to the poor?

Special Features

Now You See Me Revealed – is the “Making of” extra with filmmakers talking about doing a “different” kind of heist film with magic. The actors talk about their unique characters and we see them actually learning magic tricks behind the scenes. Isla says in real life she is a big chicken so playing a bold escape artist was a party for her. We see the gang filming the big stage shows and sliding down a trash chute for a getaway. A really fun extra!

Bradley demonstrates use of magician's flash paper

A Brief History of Magic – is an informative and fun feature in which the magic consultant on the movie David Kwong, hosts us through some of the film’s big tricks as well as introducing us to a history of escape artists, stage illusionists, street magicians and mentalists throughout the ages going back to Houdini and even the ancient Egyptians. Very cool feature.

Isla Fisher in water escape trick

Deleted Scenes – One of the best compilations of scenes left out of a movie I’ve ever seen! These scenes fill in the blanks on some of the more confusing elements of the plot. We can see that many were probably left out for time reasons but we could have used a few of them to clarify several story points. Many are just fun as well, some are extended scenes that develop the characters more. Very, very worth a watch but NOT until you have seen the film!

Audio Commentary – by the producer and director (over Theatrical version of film only) does give you a few “how they did that” moments and a bit about the actors (casting Jesse against his usual “nerd” type, Isla’s piranha fish were CGI, etc.) but a lot of tech info as well. Worth a listen once.

Dave Franco as Jack Wilder

Wrapping Up

There are two versions of the film in this set; one as it appeared in theaters and an “Extended” version. I’d watch the Extended one for more explanation and fun. Now You See Me boasts a great cast, colorful locales, hot car chases, cool stage magic shows and robbing from the rich to give to the deserving poor… what’s not to like?  Well, maybe a convoluted and kinda confusing plot but it’s fun trying to string it all together. 

Woody Harellson as mentalist Merritt McKinney

Overall the movie is very entertaining, acting is great and I love a good twist ending. (Watch some of the end credits or you’ll miss a tag scene). Although I would have loved an outtakes (blooper) reel because I’m sure there were some doozies, this Blu-ray + DVD set is well worth purchase. This is a great PG-13 film for everyone in the family. 4 Stars.

Now You See Me Blu-ray + DVD Rating:

Now You See Me is available on blu-ray + DVD September 3^rd!

Now You See Me cover art