Monday, February 24, 2014

Now You See Me

I decided to knock out a movie review today, since my list of movies to review is piling up. Because Now You See Me was such a fun movie, and because it's still fresh in my mind, I'm going to do that one.

~Now You See Me~

"First rule of magic: always be the smartest person in the room."

Right off the beginning, you basically know that there is going to be a 'big picture' thing that you are going to miss. They tell you that straight up. Being me, I sat through the entire movie trying to see the big picture, trying to figure out why they'd pull a con like that, and what the end game really was. The ending still had me totally mind-blown. In fact, if I was asked what I thought of this movie,my answer would probably just be, "Mind Blown!"

"Whatever is about to follow, whatever this grand trick is, is really going to amaze. Look closely, because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see."

Four magicians-The Four Horsemen- put on a show, an incredible, impossible show, in Las Vegas. The trick? They rob a bank in Paris as their finale.  Now that's the sort of magic that people won't forget!

  Oh yes, it's also a crime. 


Dylan Rhodes
Agent Rhodes is assigned to the case and begins to track The Horsemen. The only problem is, they seem to always be a good couple steps ahead of him. And when they're not ahead, they are behind him. How can you keep up with a group of people whose jobs are misdirection?
I think Rhodes was my favorite character. There was just something about him that was extremely likable. You feel a little bad for him through most of the film. It would be so maddening to be outsmarted so much.

But then...Mind Blown!

Alma Dray
She is the rookie Interpol agent. Rhodes doesn't particularly want her on the case, but she is a clever girl and quite frankly, she's pretty good at her job. 
I usually don't care much for characters like this. I usually find them pushy, obnoxious, or rude. But Alma was adorable. Rhodes ends up liking her too, which made me very happy. 

This movie makes you feel a little torn. You want Rhodes and Dray to catch the Horsemen. They really can't get away with stealing stuff. But you also really like the Horsemen too, and you'd rather they didn't get caught. Even though four magicians could probably pull off the world's coolest prison break...

Which brings me to the Horsemen! 

J. Daniel Atlas.
This guy is sort of the leader of the group. At least he likes to think so. He's cocky, and rather too smart for his own good. He's the sort of fellow you'd want to slap half the time but deep down inside, you like him. You can't help it. 

Henley Reeves
She is an escape artist, but she does more than just escape. In fact, I'd have called her...The Assistant. But that sounds less impressive than the escape artist thing. After the initial bit at the beginning where she escapes a tank of water, she doesn't do any escaping. So I don't really know why that's her title. No matter, she works well with the others and I liked her well enough. But unlike the others, her talent doesn't really play into the plot. Which is a sort of a shame.

Merritt McKinney
He likes to hypnotize people. Trust me, that's a really useful ability. I liked him most of the time. He had a couple of lines that I didn't appreciate, but overall, he was pretty funny and they couldn't have pulled the job without him. 

Jack Wilder. 
Jack is my favorite of the Horsemen. Of all of them, he is the most understated. He does sleight of hand tricks. But you don't know his true talent until later in the movie. This man is very talented. If you want to know what his talent is  (and it's very cool) you're going to have to watch the movie. *Smirk*

I don't really know what else to say about this film. It was fun and interesting and the sort of thing you'd have to see to understand. The plot is rather brilliant and they worked it out so that the ending is exactly what you wanted. Even if you didn't know that until you saw it.

Like I said before, "Mind Blown!"

I'd recommend it to to pretty much everyone. Even if magic and heists aren't your thing, you might just surprise yourself and like this particular magic show and heist. 
Being someone that loves magic so, so much, it was right up my ally. 


I believe it was rated PG-13 and I think that was a fair rating. There is some swearing, but I can't remember how much. I sort of tune that out when I watch things and don't remember it until I tell someone, "Hey, we should watch that!" and then I sit there going, "Oooh, he said that word again...and again!" Then I feel awkward.  
There is a scene right near the beginning that we fast-forwarded. A guy and a girl are going upstairs--once you get there, just fast-forward. You'll know what I mean when you watch it. After that, there isn't any other scenes at all. Well, there's apparently a Mardi Gras scene that I didn't catch. So, if you don't catch it, hurray! If you see it, I do apologize. It's a really quick, sort of off-to-the-side kind of scene that makes you go, "Ew," and then it's gone. So...
Other than that, it's clean! :) Oh...um....there may or may not be one or two off-ish conversations. Just F.Y.I. Nothing terrible ,but it's nice to be warned. 


Mind Blown!

I will definitely watch it again. I've seen it twice already and enjoyed it more the second time. You know what's going on the second time and you feel smug about it. Especially when you're watching it for the second time with someone who's watching it for the first time. *Nods* Treskie was trying so hard to see the Big Picture! But...she didn't. I don't think anyone could see that coming. It was awesome! Miiiiiind Bloooown!

*Eyes movie review list and checks off Now You See Me* I feel like I accomplished so much now! 


Hope you enjoyed that and if you watch it, let me know what you thought of it. Even if you didn't like it. Still, If you aren't at least impressed by the ending, then...then you are crazy! Or maybe you're just as clever as The Horsemen.  But I doubt it. 


God Bless!
Amy




10 comments:

  1. NOOOOOW YOUUU SEEEEEEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

    lol just kidding.

    I loved that movie. And I WAS trying to see the big picture.

    And then I was like, "MIND BLOWN."

    llalalalala.

    How's this for a comment?

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    1. That was much better, thank'ee! :)
      I confess, the whole time I watched it for the second time, I kept looking over to see if you were getting it. And ya didn't! It was fun.

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  2. Yay!! Thank you! I've been looking for a good movie to watch. I thought about watching Now You See Me a while ago but didn't think it was worth it. You just convinced me that it is. I shall now watch it as soon as possible :). Is it similar to Leverage maybe?

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  3. Oh, I hope you enjoy it. :) Um, I wouldn't say it's all that much like Leverage, but the crime is more a justice thing than just a random crime.
    Let me know what you think of the ending!

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  4. Jack saw part of the end of this movie, heard it was really good, and stopped watching so the ending wouldn't be ruined and she coudl watch it from the beginning. It looked pretty good, but I wasn't watching much.

    Don't worry. I am going to make sure Jack is freed on time to come and see you. (I'm Peter, by the way. Since I guess you can't see through the computer to see which one I am.) I'd free her before but I think she is having too much fun being kidnapped. She's got a stack of books and has worked through it surprisingly fast. But I will make sure she is there to meet all of you. She is very excited. She keeps going around to pick the name she is going to use for the Starbucks place.

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    1. It was good. Yes, start if from the beginning and watch it all the way through. Otherwise you might get confused. You should let Jack watch it while you've got her kidnapped.

      Tell Jack I'm trying to pick the perfect name to use at a Starbucks too. It's harder than I thought it would be!

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  5. Thanks for the review. I've never seen this movie, but now I know I have to check it out.

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    1. Oh good! I hope you enjoy it!. And welcome to my blog. :) Thanks for the comment.

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  6. This movie was awesome! The ending was like...wow! Wasn't expecting that!

    I've nominated you for The Sunflower Blogger Award!

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    1. I know, wasn't it! I so didn't see that coming. Like I said repeatedly, "MIND BLOWN!" lol. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

      Thanks for the award. I'll try to claim it sometime this week. I haven't had an award in a while and I'm looking forward to this one.

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