By DJ Momo
By DJ Momo
Have you seen me? Well you should.
Summit Entertainment and director John M. Chu bring us “Now You See Me 2”, the
sequel to the universally-loved “Now You See Me” and, unfortunately, this movie
did not bring the magic like its predecessor. But its not all bad; the movie
does have its ups to counter those downs and definitely warrants a visit to the
movie theater.
First of all, let’s start with the
cinematography. For some reason, Summit Entertainment decide to hire John M.
Chu to direct the movie, even after the massive failures that were his last or,
as I would say, all of his movies with Jem and the Holograms being the last
disappointment in a long list that started all the way back with Step Up 2: The
Streets. His handling of the movie was iffy at best with all of his shots
seemingly a cheap attempt to copy the ones from the last movie. On the other
hand, even though they were only copies, the original’s shots were so good that
it makes these ones seem acceptable by movie standards. Moving on from shots to effects, the movie
does try to create different ones using different tricks than the first movie
and fortunately, it succeeds. The only problem is the fact that they barely
used this asset and kept in the closet.
Moving on to acting, I’ve got nothing but
praise to give. The movie brings back most of the original cast in the amazing
roles from the first movie. Jesse Eisenberg reminds us of how much of a good
actor he is after the fiasco that was Lex Luthor. Dave Franco plays the same
role that he plays in most movies, that of an eternal charmer. While that might
be problematic for some, I find it perfect with him not overplaying a role in
which he is perfect. Woody Harrelson played his “two-sided” character with all
the prowess that he demonstrated in the first one. Even though half of his
story was badly-written, he still did something amazing with it. The movie also
brings back Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, who are of course,
actors who don’t need praise. Its actually good for once to see Mark Ruffalo in
a more relaxed and fun role. The movie also brings in Daniel Radcliffe, the
Wizard we all know and love, in a role totally different then what we have seen
before, Sanaa Lathan and Jay Chou. The true star of the movie though is newcomer
Lizzy Caplan. Lizzy was charming, was funny, was relatable and was everything
you would want her character to be in the movie. She knew how to play her role
perfectly with the right nuances at the right moments. Overall, on the acting
side, I find the movie did an amazing job.
While the acting was amazing, the plot
had issues. The movie depended on the first one a lot as though it felt the
need to include every little bit of story from the last one. In a world where
comic book movies are the norm, where connections are important, movies like
Now You See Me 2 should not follow the same rules as it really handicaps the
whole movie. The inclusion of Michael Caine in the movie felt forced. They
honestly should had let the character’s storyline end with the last movie. Also
the movie’s handling of Woody Harrelson’s character and the lackluster use of
an actress like Sanaa Lathan (who still did the best with what she had) felt
like the story could have done better. And the Morgan Freeman side of the movie
seemed to contradict the first movie with a lot of it based on chance alone.
But its not like the plot was completely bad. The movie still gave a
coherent-enough storyline without actually stepping on the mystery of the
movie. It offered good heroes and enjoyable villains with quite a few
characters getting developed. It also helps that the movie kept you guessing at
every moment and at the edge of your seat.
Finally, with all that I have said,
with all the positives and the negatives, this movie was EXTREMELY enjoyable.
The ups and downs, the surprises and the mysteries gave the movie a certain
amount of “je-ne-sais-quoi” that left me wanting for more. I honestly recommend
that movie and I give it a 7/10.
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