Ok spoiler alert: I am not a film critic. I have not studied film, I never wanted to study film, and I did not go into this film with the mindset that I would be critiquing it. However, what I am is a young woman who went to the cinema (that's rare in itself, who goes to the cinema these days?!) and really enjoyed a film. So, I want to share my enjoyment with the world.
To be honest, I am just about as cliche as girls get: I have long blonde hair, I watch make-up tutorials on Instagram and I love rom-coms. Yes, some may call me 'basic' but I'm happy with that, I love who I am and I love romantic comedies even more than that. Anything with Jennifer Aniston/Ryan Gosling in and i'm sold really...
However, about a year and a half ago I started dating a boy and ever since that day he has tried to steer me away from romantic comedies (much to my dismay). Up until about six months ago, he was giving up hope; we'd tried horror films, action films, fantasy films, superhero films and cartoons - nothing was working for me. Then he played Now you see me and I was hooked. My luck only got better when I found out they were in the process of filming a sequel!
Okay so here's the gist of the film(s): Four magicians are in America working on their own, making money by any means necessary. 'The Eye' lures them all in to work together to expose all the big corporations who are stealing the public's money and privacy. In theory they're good guys, but of course technically they are stealing - a bit like Robin Hood - so the FBI are on their case. Luckily for them, one of the FBI agents is actually undercover working alongside them to help them succeed and they pull off the biggest stunt of their lives. Then in the second film, they're in hiding from the FBI and need a way out so Harry Potter, I mean Daniel Radcliffe, kidnaps them and tells them he'll give them a new life if they steal a chip that will give him access to the worlds information. Now they're helping the bad guy.
The film unravels fast, there are a lot of very near deaths, a lot of incredible magic tricks and a a lot of hilarious moments. It doesn't really need to be mentioned, but yes there is a happy ending, they find out who the eye is, Mark Ruffalo finally gets closure over his fathers death, and Morgan Freeman exposes himself as the good guy he really is (in the first film he was the bad guy, very confusing!)
As you can probably already tell, the star filled cast helps the smooth running of the film. Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Isla Fisher (first film), Michael Caine and Lizzy Caplan are among the cast and the chemistry just works. Like I say, I'm no film critic, but you genuinely believe all the cast are best friends and are working together because they genuinely love performing with each other and want to help the world. How a bunch of actors and a director has achieved that in two films I'm not sure, but it really is revolutionary.
The magic tricks they perform as well work so fantastically, even though I'm fully aware they are magic tricks, all playing with your head and not real, you're lured into believing Jesse Eisenerg really can make rain stop and change the direction of it, and that Woody Harrelson can hypnotise anyone that steps near him. The best part for me was that you see the tricks throughout the film, they play a huge role in the story line, but it isn't until the last few seconds that you find out how they pulled it off and what really happened. This really helps you get involved in the film and attach yourself to the characters and the role their playing. Even Daniel Radcliffe does a fantastic job of not playing Harry Potter, even though he is a British man in a film about magic - now that is tough!
To say I was on the edge of my seat throughout the film would be an understatement and by the end I may as well have been on the floor. Everyone says those people who clap at the end of a film are weird, but those people have never seen a film as good as this one. I cannot express enough how much I would suggest his film to others. As a lover of romantic comedies, my only disappointment was that they included a (vague) love story in the film - totally unnecessary when there was that much drama throughout the film. Keep to what your good at!
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