CAUTION: This review will contain spoilers — this is your only warning so do not read any further if you don’t want anything revealed. If you haven’t seen the first two movies yet either, do not continue reading. Come back after you’ve watched all three!

Before I discuss the third movie installment to the “Now You See Me” franchise, let’s cover some background information on the series and past two movies.

Each movie has a different director, which unfortunately does mean there are some spots where things don’t quite add up. It’s not as noticeable between the first two but definitely rings louder with another film having been released. I’m not always the biggest fan of sequels and series of films, but I continue to remain more pleased with how this one has been handled. I do wish some things were a little different. I had heard through the grapevine that this movie was not great, and I do choose to avoid trailers, if possible, as I feel they sometimes ruin a movie because it either overhypes or underwhelms the full production. I was not going in with super high expectations as I feel sequels, even those that are prequel stories, are nowhere near as good as the first movie.

In the first movie, we are introduced to the four main characters known as The Four Horsemen. These characters go by the names of J. Daniel Atlas, Merritt McKinney, Henley Reeves, and Jack Wilder — each of them recruited by this top secret society referred to as “The Eye.” None of them know who is behind it until the very end.

Plot twist: Dylan Rhodes, who is portrayed as the main antagonist, ends up being behind everything because of a life long vendetta against Thaddeus Bradley and Arthur Tressler of Tressler insurance — both receive not so happy endings. Dylan’s real identity being that he was the son of Lionel Shrike, a well-known magician whose fate was unfortunate. Every move was meticulously planned over a series of years in order to ensure 100% success. The whole basis of the movie is to push on the idea that The Four Horsemen steal from the rich and give to the poor — basically robinhood. Overall, I am a fan of this movie and enjoy the quality of production behind the magic tricks.

Now, the second movie still holds the same magic atmosphere, and there is a slight casting change. Henley Reeves does not return, and we meet Lula May, who becomes the fifth horseman. This bothers me because I feel that maybe it didn’t need to be referred to as the Four Horsemen if the group was going to continue to grow, this does get touched on slightly in the newest release. Possibly the only real issue I had with the second movie. I do like the return of Arthur Tressler still being a corrupt character, and we find out he has a son, Walter Mabry. Ironically, he is cast by Daniel Radcliffe, and try as he might, his persona cannot produce “magic,” which is very entertaining since Radcliffe is known for his major role as Harry Potter from the “Harry Potter” franchise. Plot twist in this movie: we find out that Thaddeus Bradley and Lionel Shrike were actually partners — their rivalry was for show, which reconciles Rhodes and Bradley in the end. I don’t really like that being the case, but who am I to argue with it? All in all, as a sequel, this movie was fine.

Now here we go — the latest movie, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.” Clever title, and if they continue with a fourth film, it’ll be interesting to see what they name it.

From the get-go we are introduced to three brand new characters — Charlie, June, and Bosco — who are long time admirers of The Horsemen; the group is mostly referred to by this name as we have five now and not four, whatever. These three new characters are eventually connected to the original four horsemen for a bigger plot, which we assume is from The Eye. We do get Lula May’s return, thus making the original group, five. The villain is Veronika Vanderberg, matriarch of a diamond company involved with money laundering.

Again, like the past two movies, the MAJOR revelation comes at the end. Nothing really adds up entirely until the plot twist hits. Despite all that, this movie felt incomplete. It kicks off with the time jump between the previous ending and where this one picks up; I didn’t feel myself longing for as much of an explanation of what happened during the missing years. I still didn’t like the discontinuity between the movies. I think I would have preferred more connections with the return of Walter Mabry as the villain. Adding new castmates to this Horsemen group is fine, but I think it needed more connection than just adding the original main characters back. I understand the call for a new antagonist as we see the plot unfold, and it draws a similar storyline to the first movie. From start to finish, each movement was mapped out and planned in advance. By who? I’m not going to spoil it all that much. 

The production felt slightly lackluster in comparison to the former two and more “violent” in the sense that there was more stage fighting and guns involved. Each fight scene felt like a standard action sequence with the “tricks” of the magicians here and there. I enjoyed it more than I was initially expecting, but out of the three movies, this was definitely the weakest. I understand different teams of production, directing, and writing can cause discrepancies between each other, but it felt incomplete. I think some scenes needed more and some needed less. 

I’ve heard there is potential for a fourth, as the end credits scene suggests continuation. I hope that maybe it’ll lend more insight to reconnect this entire storyline. Ruben Fleischer, who directed the third movie, is supposed to return on the fourth project, so I can only hope. I will plan to probably go see it in theaters regardless, but my expectations for a high-quality fourth part remain low. 

The soundtrack, the actor/actresses’ performance, and production alone are all well-done and work great together. Personally, the soundtrack doesn’t change how I feel about a movie unless it’s just really out of place or feels cheesy — but not in a funny way. I think the cast alone makes these films just work regardless of the storylines.

As far as production, in this day and age, magic really does happen on screen. I think the first movie feels the strongest in making these tricks more in the idea that they are just illusions and slight-of-hand movements. Especially since the third movie kind of played into a lot of action fight scenes with the rapid, tricky camera movements; I did not care for these sequences much as they felt entirely out of place.

My rating for “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” out of ten stars: I give it a solid seven.