Respond to these rapid questions in our Now You See Me 2 quiz and we will tell you which Now You See Me 2 character you are. Play it now.
Although I have no personal experience with the films, I support them in theory. Unlike pre-existing properties, they are lighthearted, original entertainments that are filled with charismatic actors portraying hip, attractive characters. They are also fully committed to their ridiculous premise: that rock-star awesome magicians can play Robin Hood, standing up to scheming fat cats who attempt to bully the world with money. Unfortunately, the first film’s execution was, to put it mildly, mediocre, to say the least. However, rather than attempting to convey the concept of sleight of hand through pure cinematic means, such as by playing games with framing so that the audience’s attention is misdirected, the film simply showed you things and then explained through tedious expository dialogue and flashbacks that it wasn’t what you thought it was. Because of this, it was similar to hearing a friend rave about an amazing magic show: you had to take his word for it, while wishing you had been there to witness it for yourself.
“Now You See Me 2,” which reunites the crusading magicians for yet another heist/adventure, employs more of the same narrative shortcuts, substituting extensive flashbacks, whirling camerawork, and digital effects for a truly magical sensibility, as well as more of the same narrative shortcuts. There isn’t a lot of awe displayed in this video. While the majority of the film is devoted to slapstick comedy and pointless motion, there are some enjoyable action sequences, including one in which the protagonists exchange cards in an abandoned laboratory, as well as enough clever-alecky banter between talented actors to keep the time passing by without feeling stale.
Similarly to the previous film, there is a great deal of plot—so much so that it might as well not have any at all after a while. Lula (Lizzy Caplan), a geek trick specialist who takes over for Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) in the previous film, becomes entangled in a nefarious scheme masterminded by billionaire Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who has access to a chip that can instantly gather private data from every mobile device on the planet. As part of this story, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), an FBI agent and secret Four Horsemen fifth columnist, is pitted against magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who was imprisoned at the end of the previous film but is able to manipulate events from his prison cell in this one.
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The group’s patron from the previous film, played by Michael Caine’s billionaire Arthur Tressler, is involved in a revenge plot that is related to this one. While I’ll try to be a good sport and refrain from divulging specific details about Tressler’s role in the film, there’s really no point in doing so: even though Tressler doesn’t appear until late in the film, Caine is prominently featured in the advertising campaign, and you immediately recognize his significance to the plot as soon as you see him again.
Now You See Me 2 Quiz
The film follows Dylan, Lula, prestidigitator Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), card master and acrobatic badass Jack Wilder (Dave Franco)—who faked his own death in the previous film and is back in this one; he’s also on the poster, so don’t complain about spoilers—and hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) on a journey to Macau, China, where they meet up with In some circles, this city is referred to as the “Las Vegas of Asia” and the “Cradle of Illusionism.” The team plots to free themselves from Mabry’s grasp by contacting the proprietors of the world’s oldest magic shop, an ancient hole-in-the-wall run by Li (Jay Chou) and his mother Bu Bu (Tsai Chin), through which they stage illusions that serve as fronts for heists and tactical misdirection. The film is directed by Jay Chou. These, in turn, are merely diversionary tactics used to conceal some other scheme that serves some other purpose. In this film, most of the major characters have motives that conceal other motives that are ultimately used as camouflage for the first motive or for some “surprising” third motive, and it’s all explained through quickly edited, heavily narrated flashbacks proving that what we thought we were seeing wasn’t really what we were seeing. Thaddeus appears to give a lecture to the other characters about the history and traditions of magic, as well as to give the audience the opportunity to visit the concession stand.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Now You See Me 2 quiz.
At first, the storytelling is engaging because it has a “what the hell, why not?” quality to it, similar to the first film. Like the cast of Steven Soderbergh’s “Oceans” series, which was a clear influence on this film, the cast appears to be taking the events of the film about as seriously as they should be taken, which is not very seriously. Except for Ruffalo, whose character is dealing with intense childhood trauma involving his father, an illusionist who died in New Jersey in 1984 while performing a Houdini-style stunt in a safe in the water that we’re told would not have happened if Thaddeus hadn’t encouraged him by questioning the legitimacy of his magic. In this film, Ruffalo, one of the most understatedly excellent leading men in American cinema, convinces you to believe something that is patently absurd: that an FBI agent could assist a group of wisecracking, globe-trotting magicians by deliberately causing havoc in his own agency’s investigations, all in the name of repairing a psychic wound that has been festering for more than thirty years. Dylan’s animosity, according to Thaddeus, will serve as fuel for a “long con,” and he is correct.
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It gets even more ridiculous when it’s revealed to the audience that Merritt has a twin brother, who happens to be portrayed by Harrelson as well, and who is decked out in an outrageously wavy fright wig that Merritt describes as looking like it was made “entirely from old man pubes.” However, Harrelson and Harrelson play this relationship as a joke, and it works out just about perfectly. Harrelson has evolved into one of those spot-on character actors with leading man charisma who you’re always happy to see, even when the material is weak, much to the surprise of older viewers who assumed that Woody the bartender on “Cheers” was the role that he was put on earth to play. You know he’ll commit to the material while also conveying his admiration for it in such a subtle way that it never feels like he’s being condescending to it. Nearly compensating for the forgettable material that director Jon M. Chu (“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) and screenwriter Ed Solomon have saddled him with is the pleasure he takes in playing opposite himself here.
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It’s a lot like the first film, which was directed by French action director Louis Letterier (“The Transporter”) and is a collection of cross-cut set-pieces, interspersed with mouthfuls of explanatory dialogue, and tricked out with computer-generated imagery and lavish transitions. There are still a lot of subplots to work out (in particular, the hints of romance between Jack and Lula, as well as the relationship between Mabry and Tressler), and many of them aren’t even halfway finished yet.
In fact, with its amusingly slapped-together storytelling and its travelogue-style showcasing of Macau nightclubs, casinos, and narrow cobblestone streets, the film is perhaps best appreciated as an English-language counterpart to any of the goofy, very busy Chinese action comedies from the ’80s and ’90s that are so popular in China today. My mind immediately goes to the “God of Gamblers” series, which stars Chow Yun-Fat as a master card sharp and devil-may care adventurer whose identity is kept a secret from everyone except his closest associates because he has managed to avoid being photographed throughout his adult life. Even Mabry’s character in the “Gamblers” films, who is a billionaire who was presumed dead and now lives off the grid, has a line that connects him to Chow’s character: “In a world of total surveillance, the only true power lies in not being seen.”
For more personality quizzes check this: 10 Cloverfield Lane Quiz.
