There are many things I enjoyed with the movie but there also seems to be a little problem after that. As a whole, the visuals are really good, but there are times were it goes a bit too far (back to implausible). The cast and acting was good, but the characters are very much the same as in the first movie. There is nothing new about them, with the exception of Mark Ruffalo's character. We are given a better and more thoughtful backstory about his past, and more emotional understanding. Out of the horseman, Woody Harrison's character is the only one whose past is even talked about when his brother comes into the frame, which didn't really do much to the movie. I personally didn't like it that much. I enjoyed Isla Fishers replacement in Lizzy Caplan. She was a fun and provides some positive energy to the group,which contain some boring members. She has a personality which some of the characters lacked, but her role only took a bad-turn when she and Dave Franco's character, Jack Wilder, entered a horribly-developed relationship, which had nonsensical impact on the already bloated story. As long as the team had chemistry, which they did, I was fine with some of the minor problems.
The tricks were impressive but I didn't find the 'wow' factor like I did in the first movie. Also, as Thaddeus was a magic debunker, I would've liked, even for a brief minute or two, for him to explain how some of the tricks worked, which would've helped the audience, but also expand his role in the movie, especially as he is such a great actor. Continuing on with the tricks, I wish that they didn't all have to have some sort-of CGI work on them. One of the things I liked about the first movie were some of the tricks didn't require CG work at all because they were entirely performed by the magician. Though I know that the people performing the tricks are not magicians, they could've at least applied some free-hand stuff for the actors to perform.
Overall, the movie, despite its bloated story and extensive CGI work, was entertaining and fun to watch. It has some resemblance to the first movie, which I didn't entirely enjoy, and hope that if they do make a third (I hear they are) that they make a more believable and different story, continuing on with some of the great visual effects.
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Now You See Me 2 reviews
