Now You See Me

..., Now You Don't. Entertainment that doesn’t offend your brain that is a huge advertisement for illusionists. One big advantage is that the gradation of the screenplay copies the gradation of the tricks in the movie and follows the rules of magic divulged in advance. Magic has always kept up with trends and, because we are a greedy generation interested only in having fun, our four (five) horsemen go at it cleverly and steal and then hand out money. A very pleasant cast, all of them with a good part to play and they enjoy the “moment", supplemented by the two old men, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, who gratefully accepted their roles of the biggest assholes of the entire charade. Leterrier is on top of kinetics, so all of the tricks are extremely dynamic and easy to see (during the performance), + not forgetting his favorite car chases. A seriously well-done popcorn movie with a twist that even I was surprised about. (24/07/2013)

I don't want to slag Now You See Me because Leterrier mixed what he could in his pursuit of style and often slipped into unintentional self-parody in his visual realm, but unfortunately it's unavoidable. The magic tricks look nice, the sonorous names sound beautiful and the story built on ten twists and turns in the last ten minutes is a delight here and there, but the tricks can always be explained rationally, the actors have nothing to play with in many cases and the final twist is so contrived and flashy that it hurt my eyes. Besides, how am I supposed to keep my fingers crossed for the fictional thieves when the pair of detectives chasing them are far more likeable? This is not new Ocean’s Eleven, not even by chance. 50% (28/10/2013)

A very complicated, but at the same time quite imaginative story. And the actors are the icing on the cake. They exuded that kind of a magician’s arrogance and cunning with which their idea grew and fell. But I must say that it wasn’t because of all this that I gave this movie four stars. If that was all the movie had, I would have settled on two. I was totally confused by the story. I, however, enjoyed the way this film was made. The director clearly put a lot of effort into this, to show this project was a dream come true for him. But the best and most beautiful thing about this movie was Mélanie Laurent. I could watch her all day. And if the magicians had chosen her for the disappearing act, I would’ve written an indignant letter all the way to Hollywood, demanding an explanation. Fortunately, she showed all of her French elegance and grace to my complete satisfaction. It’s evident that the director, who is also French, is aware of Melánie’s charm. So even though the movie has its flaws, it also deserves praise. As a result, I was satisfied and now I’m looking forward to a sequel. (13/12/2013)

"The Con Artists" had the potential to become a truly fantastic film. When it came to the actual magic tricks, it was something that I wanted to see from magicians and, of course, something more. However, as the ending approached and the explanations began, the viewer started to feel that something was rotten beneath the surface. With the conclusion, it all came to light like a startled fish. The film, which had been pretending to be a clever film about magicians, eventually turned into a brutally butchered trick with an ending that simply had to disappoint. There is nothing clever about it anymore; it's all very cheap and simple. It's a shame, a terrible shame, because the journey towards it was good. Sometimes the journey is not enough; sometimes the goal is truly essential. It was here. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/07/podfukari-2013-55.html (18/07/2013)

Such a fast, dynamic, and perfectly deafening ride that I had to struggle to pull out grains of detachment and keep from giving it the highest possible rating. This gang firmly counts on the fact that the audience is willingly letting themselves be led astray, only to later admire the resulting denouement with nothing short of awe. And because Louis Leterrier is a damn skillful puppeteer, I won't let my minor criticisms about the reveal and the slower pace of the second half sound too loudly. (07/10/2013)