Who decides what looks cool in a movie? The heist subgenre relies almost entirely on the on-screenactionlooking effortlessly cool. Some would reasonably argue that a great director, cinematographer, and cast of actors can give anything the right aura. On the other hand, some subjects seem a lot harder to spice up than George Clooney in a nice blazer. Magicians, for example, struggle to fit into the same stylistic niche. Despite the inherently off-kilter nature of the illusionist’s profession, a team of creators turnedNow You See Meinto a box-office smash.
Jessie Eisenberg is a uniquepresence in modern Hollywood. He’s a multitalented artist who never seems quite at home with the blockbuster scene, despite starring in a couple of them. Pinning down his best role would be tough before he became a director, writer, and complicated TV icon.Now You See Merepresents an awkward chapter in his career, arguably attempting to find a big-budget frame he could fit comfortably into. It didn’t work, and he seems happier winning Waldo Salt Screenwriting Awards for films likeA Real Pain.
Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, and Edward Ricourt
Ed Solomon and Peter Chiarelli
June 20, 2025
June 28, 2025
Now You See Itis a 2005Disney Channel original moviestarring Aly Michalka, Johnny Pacar, and Frank Langella. The film follows real wizards who compete in a televised close-up magic competition for control over a mystical MacGuffin. It’s unrelated to theNow You See Mefranchise, but its name and general vibe might have influenced its creation and belief in the inherent coolness of magicians.Now You See Meis about four stage magicians from different disciplines who use their half-justified superpowers to steal millions from corrupt rich people. Two FBI agents track down a famed magic expert with the hope that he’ll debunk the thieves' tricks. It’s a movie made up of twists, misdirects, and multi-layer motivation shifts. All the magic boils down to cheap camera tricks, but the in-universe explanations tend to air close to genuine sorcery. There’s asecret society of wizardsunderneath the plot that ties in to every character’s narrative. It’s all kind of mess.
Now You See Me 2is perhaps the greatest missed opportunity in the history of sequel titles. Released three years after the original, the film that should have been calledNow You Don’texplores the continued adventures of the Four Horsemen. Isla Fisher left the project, but they couldn’t go on as the Three Horsemen,so Lizzy Caplan stepped inas a new token lady magician. While the first film saw the magicians stealing from extremely boring villains and evading Morgan Freeman, Daniel Radcliffe takes the antagonistic role in the sequel. Instead of taking cash, this one is mostly about foiling a mass data harvesting scheme and thwarting the global surveillance infrastructure. It isn’t much better, but the new actors add a lot.
Who made theNow You See Memovies?
TheNow You See Mefilms don’t share a lot of creative voices. Director Louis Leterrier stepped away after the first entry. Writer Ed Solomon did stick around for both projects. He’s best knownfor theBill & Tedmoviesand the firstMen in Black, but he also has a credit for the 1993Super Mario Bros.movie. The most notable consistent voices on the duology are probably notorious Hollywood producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman and Orci are known, almost exclusively, for awful recreations of beloved IP. They wrote the first two Michael BayTransformersmovies before they put their stamp on theStar Trekreboot series.Star Trek: Beyond, the only one of those films people seem to like, is the one they aren’t involved with. They also wroteThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, the film that abruptly stopped Sony’s attempts to push that version of Peter Parker. They even directedThe Mummy, the hilarious 2017 attempt tolaunch the Dark Universe. They have their hands in several failed franchise attempts, butNow You See Mekeeps working for them.
How were theNow You See Memovies received?
BothNow You See Memovies made a ton of money despite avery tepid critical response. Both earned well over $300 million on budgets at or around $100 million. They’re both unusual hits that landed in second or third at the box office on their opening weekends but stuck around for several weeks. That doesn’t happen that often today, eight years later. Critics were mixed about both films, offering limited praise with substantial insults. The first film’s ending earned most of the ire, as it twisted the narrative into knots with very little explanation.Lizzy Caplan got a tonof praise for her performance in the sequel. They did well enough to summon a potential third outing. It’s still not calledNow You Don’t.
TheNow You See Memovies are not as old as they seem. The only justifiable explanation of their success is that audiences are desperate for something original. It’s a rare example of a new project earning asubstantial box-office take. Somehow, magicians were enough to draw attention from a suitable crowd. Week after week, enough viewers bought tickets forNow You See MeandNow You See Me 2to keep the card tricks going. Perhaps the third entry can provide a story that doesn’t feel like misdirection for its own sake.
