Now You See Me 2 (2016)

[Rick Kitchen]

I really enjoyed this.  There was a lot of humor in it, and Lizzy Kaplan provided a welcome amount of humor.  I love movies where they let you think they're going one way and they go another.  

Only two objections - I kept expecting Merritt to pretend to be Chase at one point.  And I really didn't understand the ending.  Was Thaddeus really a bad guy all along, or when he said they would get what they deserve, was it a good deserve or a bad deserve?

Edited June 12, 2016 by Rick Kitchen

[AimingforYoko]

I loved that they lampshaded Lula being the 'Girl Horseman' with her thinking she would play the bimbo in the heist caper when it was Atlas and then Merritt being the one who couldn't ride a motorcycle. Not to mention her macking on Jack from the jump.

[phalange]

Just saw this tonight and it was really entertaining. Good continuation from the first movie. I liked how you could never be sure of anyone's motivations, Thaddeus in particular. Talk about playing the long game. I too, wondered what he meant at the end by the Horsemen getting what they deserve. Are they getting rewarded or is it just another trick? What's the over/under on a third film to wrap up the mystery? If they made one more, I'd see it, honestly.

[OakGoblinFly]

There were parts I liked - basically everything Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman; Daniel Radcliffe was fun.

 

Sadly, there were many more parts that I disliked; everything to do with Chase made me grind my teeth - so, very painful to watch.  Honestly,  I wonder if Woody Harrelson told the powers-that-be that he would only come back if he was allowed to play two roles and the powers-that-be caved in because Isla Fisher wasn't coming back.

 

I wasn't very impressed with Lizzy Caplan's Lulu; I suppose she was to be going for perky and energetic, I thought she hit "annoying" more often than not.

 

Dave Franco, while awfully nice to look at, was merely there - I don't know if he got lazy in his acting choices or what; then again, there wasn't a whole lot there for him to work with.

 

Jesse Eisenberg played Jesse Eisenberg; at least it works here (unlike Superman V Batman).

[blackwing]

Am I the only one who just can't stand Jesse Eisenberg?  I truly hate his acting style, it's like he plays "neurotic nerd" and that's how he appears in all his movies.  I hated him in Batman v. Superman.... so whiny!  I hate his voice too.

[Morrigan2575]

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Honestly,  I wonder if Woody Harrelson told the powers-that-be that he would only come back if he was allowed to play two roles and the powers-that-be caved in because Isla Fisher wasn't coming back.

Jeremy Jahns said the exact same thing in his review. 

[Shannon L.]

I just saw this this morning and enjoyed most of it.  I expected it to be even more over the top and they didn't disappoint.

I did cringe at Woody's double role and wished they had just cast someone different to play a slightly younger or slightly older brother (or fraternal twin would would have worked, too).  I enjoyed the Lulu-loved her introduction :) - and agree with AimingforYoko about her not being the bimbo and knowing how to ride a motorcycle. 

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There were parts I liked - basically everything Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman; Daniel Radcliffe was fun.

I liked movie more than you did, but agree they really did stand out--especially Mark Ruffalo.  Usually with movies like this you can expect the acting to be anywhere from "meh" to "good" because it's the action that's the draw, but Mark really sold Dylan's grief during the scenes when he was thinking/talking about his father. Which reminds me:  When did they figure out that he was Shriker's son?  When Danny was quoting Lionel, I got the sense that he wasn't aware that he was quoting Dylan's father, but at the end, they introduced him as Dylan Shriker.  I was waiting for some sort of reveal, but I didn't see anything.  Did I miss it?  Or was it in the first movie and I'm forgetting?

I tend to like movies with big elaborate set ups, which is probably why I liked this one and the first one in spite of how silly it got at times.  It also occurred to me that it was nice to watch an action film without a ton of car chases and bullets flying everywhere. 

[SnoGirl]

Just like the first one, I loved it. It reminded me of the tv show Leverage, especially with the whole plane bit (they did that in Leverage with the Spruce Goose). Con movies are one of my weaknesses and I was trying to figure out the con the entire time.

Since the multiple mentions of the Long Con, I really thought Merritt's brother was in on it the whole time. I was pleasantly surprised he wasn't.  I had just figured the twin bit was a shout-out to the movie The Prestige.

I really liked Lulu. I thought she was badass, and cheeky. I liked that she chased Jack the whole film, and wouldn't let the boys shut her out. It was refreshing, almost like they wrote her part for a male and flipped her gender.

My favorite character was Dylan. I loved his dedication to not only his father but to the Four Horsemen too. Even when Atlas was a tool, Dylan stuck around and then saved him. He is a good leader (and made me wonder if Atlas was completely in charge, if he would someday burn the rest of the Horsemen). And Mark Ruffalo killed the fight scene. Loved the mix of magic and fight moves. Did anyone else chuckle at the line with the other FBI agent when he said "That's the thing about being two people, one person trips up the other eventually" when he was talking to Ruffalo? It got a rise out of our audience and there were lots of laughs. My Dad even whispered "think he knows he's the Hulk?"

I loved the long con, I want to rewatch the first now knowing where the story went. I hope they make a third, I know I'd watch it.

Edited June 20, 2016 by SnoGirl

[Yokosmom]

Saw it this weekend and really enjoyed it.  It's a fun popcorn movie.  I thought it was just as good as the first one and don't understand the mostly negative reviews.  Instead of simply remaking the first film, they actually moved the story forward in important ways--the reveal about Thaddeus, the unmasking of Dylan, the coming together of the team, etc.  And yes, Thaddeus may be now considered a good guy, but I still think that the whole thing with Dylan and the safe was a dick move that could have easily backfired.  I agree that the Chase character was a flaw in the film.  Way too over the top and should have been played by someone else--in fact, I would have preferred that the character be a former partner but not his brother.

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Which reminds me:  When did they figure out that he was Shriker's son?  

I'm handwaving that sometime over the course of the year that they were in hiding that Dylan told them his real name. His motives would be much more understandable to them if they knew that he was the son of a famous magician.

It was also nice (and a rare bit of realism) to see that not all of the Horsemen can duplicate each others' skills--Merritt is lousy at card throwing--Jack is still learning hypnotism. Not that I watch these films for realism.... 

Nice setting in Macau--not a place that is seen in films very much.

I liked Daniel Radcliffe more than I expected.  His expression at the end when his "dad" basically disowned him was priceless.

This sequel is doing well enough, but it isn't going to make the box office of the first one.  They started working on a third film several months ago (not filming but planning out another sequel).  Hope that the less than expected box office doesn't put the kibosh on that--I wouldn't mind the series turning into a trilogy.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Yokosmom

[Shannon L.]

21 hours ago, Yokosmom said:

I'm handwaving that sometime over the course of the year that they were in hiding that Dylan told them his real name. His motives would be much more understandable to them if they knew that he was the son of a famous magician.

Yeah, my son watched the first one, then went to the theater to see the second one right after and said that he saw no reveal in either movie.  I think that would have been an interesting scene that wouldn't have added more than a couple of minutes to either movie.  I also think that the scene where Danny was quoting Dylan's father should have had a different tone since, as I wrote above, it appeared as though Danny didn't know that he was quoting Dylan's father.  At least that's how I read it. Not that it's a big deal, of course--it's a short scene--but still, it made me anticipate that moment when they found out and that moment never happened.

[Chaos Theory]

Just watched this via Netflux and not as good as the first but still enjoyable.  I liked Dylan and Thadaus's storyline.  Mark Ruffalon and Morgan Freeman played off each other well.  Then of course they did.  Storyline was fun and I like the new female Horseman so I'd watch a third installment.

[ribboninthesky1]

I probably should have watched the first one again - I barely remembered what happened since I've not seen it since it was released in theaters 3 years ago.  This one felt long, so I checked the run time of the first film.  Not a huge difference, only about 15 minutes.  The visual effects were great, but the plot seemed even thinner than the first one. Overall, it felt like a sequel made because the first film was such a hit, with some threadbare continuation of the story.  I won't go out of my way to see a third film, even if I objectively appreciate a popcorn film outside of the comic realm. 

[GaT]

I just got around to seeing this on HBO, & it was seriously bad. The Horsemen had none of the charm that they had in the first movie, & Woody Harrelson's twin brother plot was just stupid. Also, why is this called "Now You See Me 2" instead of "Now You Don't"? That makes much more sense for a sequel. If for reasons not known to me they decide to do a third one, I won't bother watching.

[Hanahope]

I thought the movie was decent enough.  I was say a bit annoyed at how "interchangeable" the "female Horseman" seemed to be, though I understood the reason for the change.  Still, it seems to me that if Jesse or Woody weren't available at the time of shooting, they might have held off enough for them.

But plot wise, I thought it had some holes.  I'm still confused over why the 'chip' seemed to be fake when the four + Dylan finally got away from Radcliff, but then it was 'good' on the plane?  Or did the horsemen switch the machine Radcliff used to test the chip too?

I didn't get how Jesse/Atlas did his trick with the rain.  Could strobe lights really make it look like rain had 'frozen' or reversed?

I too thought there'd be some switch between Chase and Merritt.  

The card flipping scene with the chip was good.  the camera/cgi work very good, since otherwise the scene was a bit hard to believe.  Did they originally think that the chip contained 'little enough' metal that it would pass through the detector ok?  I guess none of the guys had metal zippers in their pants?

So how did Dylan's dad die if the safe and watch were designed the same?  presumably, the father could have started picking the safe lock immediately, whereas Dylan had to figure it out first.

[Yokosmom]

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So how did Dylan's dad die if the safe and watch were designed the same?  presumably, the father could have started picking the safe lock immediately, whereas Dylan had to figure it out first.

The safe that he used had substandard metal--the door warped.