‘Now You See Me: Now You Don't’ Review: A Fun Action Threequel Revives a Campy Kind of Magic Long Lost in Movies
It’s magical that out of the many long-forgotten 2010 franchises to reappear, Now You See Me was dealt the ace of soft reboot spades for a third installment. The caper duology, centralizing illusionists with a Robin Hood complex — The Four Horsemen: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Lizzy Caplan in the sequel, when Fisher didn't return — going on silly heists and taking down the most corrupt rich folks in the world, was the prime definition of mindless fun. I mean, they went from friggin' magicians to sorcerers with their own Illuminati society called The Eye. The only reverence I have for the series is the 2013 movie's use of the 5 Pointz space in Long Island City, which was demolished on the same weekend as the film’s release. But after the Jon M. Chu-helmed sequel underperformed domestically in a fairly overcrowded 2016 summer, it wasn't in the cards for the Horsemen to return.
This brings us to the subtitled Now You Don't, in which the O.G. band is reunited with a new Gen-Z crew of magicians (Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa). It’s sillier and more chaotic than either of its predecessors. Yet it inadvertently pulled off a remarkable feat of magic: capturing an energetic spirit that predates the franchise’s inception.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Lionsgate
MPA Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language, violence and suggestive references.)
Runtime: 1 Hour and 52 Minutes
Language: English
Production Companies: Secret Hideout
Distributor: Lionsgate
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Writers: Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Seth Grahame-Smith
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman
U.S Release Date: November 14, 2025
The Four Horsemen have disbanded ten years after NYSM2, and a new generation of illusionists has emerged. Cocky frontman Bosco Leroy (Dominic Sessa), agile pickpocket June (Ariana Greenblatt), and the fanboy IT guy Charlie (Justice Smith) share the same objective as The Horsemen: to expose the rich, take their bag, and redistribute it to the poor. They accomplish this by employing deepfakes of J. Daniel "Danny" Atlas (Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Franco), and Henley Reeves (Fisher) for their secret one-night-only show.
At their apartment headquarters, Danny shows up and tells them that "The Eye" sent him a strange card that led him to them. He recruits the baby magicians to assist in a mission to steal a diamond family heirloom from South African matriarch entrepreneur Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike, who delivers a horrendously campy South African accent). Veronika is known for selling diamonds to the most despicable individuals in the world.
Things go awry when they try to disrupt her private bidding event in Belgium and the remaining Horsemen show up, all with cards of their own, like Danny. They’re perplexed as to who brought them together and why. Between airing out old grievances and culture clashes, the Horsemen must find their magic again to disrupt Vanderberg's generational cycle of corruption.
The Now You See Me returning cast retains their contagious magical chemistry.
Justice Smith as Charlie, Ariana Greenblatt as June, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Dave Franco as Jack Wilder in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate | Copyright © 2025 Lionsgate
If you've seen the predecessors, you know the series has hit beyond Fast & Furious territory. Despite someone saying, "We're not superheroes," the characters have essentially become second-rate heroes. They possess exceptional combat skills, inexplicable access to a private jet, and some form of superhuman abilities often highlighted in action sequences (my favorites are Jack Wilder flinging cards like Gambit and hurting goons even though they're regular cards and June's Super Mario-style jumps). Their caper, which always starts in NYC, takes them across the world to various European locations. Whereas NYSM2 leaned into it, Now You Don’t fully embraces it, confident that the audience is aware of the formula, willing to overlook its stupidity, and be wowed by crazy magic-related action set pieces.
We haven't seen these characters since Obama's last term. The peculiarly written dialogue reminds you that times have changed, as the deepfake Horsemen reference COVID-19 AI, during the opening sequence, which involves them robbing a crypto bro in real time. Nevertheless, the sequel's assured sense of self creates the illusion that no time has passed. Especially when the original cast reunites on screen, displaying their trademark charm as these cartoonish characters, having a great time and radiating infectious, charismatic energy. The cast members' buoyant demeanor and genuine affection for each returning character are evident. Even though the high character count (eight to nine at one point, making it seem like an Avengers movie) would normally bother me, they make it so fun.
Even though I couldn't recall the events of the last film, I was engrossed in their attempts to work out their problems and bond with the baby magicians. Sessa, Smith, and Greenblatt are well-suited for the original cast. These fanboys, with a variety of endearing personalities, serve as conduits for the reunion of these legends and their shared interest in taking down wealthy overlords via magic. Rosamund Pike's terrible South African accent as an evil girlboss antagonist adds to the cartoonish flair, operating on the same level of camp as her magician counterparts.
The practical set pieces of Now You Don't are astonishing.
Rosamund Pike as Veronika in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate | Copyright © 2025 Lionsgate
I believe the writers of Now You Don't (Paul Wernick, Rhett Reese, Seth Grahame-Smith, and Michael Lesslie) are aware that the loose, formulaic caper plot, fitted with eye-rolling and endlessly questionable twists and turns, is otherwise disposable. It focuses more on combining the "next generation" and "getting the band back together." Taking over Chu's reins as he defies gravity, Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom, Uncharted) finally gets to make a good Uncharted movie via Now You See Me. Frankly, it's an absolute blast to behold.
One noteworthy sequence involves the Horsemen meeting their enemy-turned-ally, and The Eye grandmaster, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), at a magician's château in Paris, where every room resembles an elaborate fun house coated in Hanna-Barbera energy. The movie veers off-course in that direction because of a completely nonsensical new-school/old-school face-off with magic. But it gets really creative when the magicians and their opposites — for example, the haughty Leroy and the egotistical Atlas, who bicker like brothers — are paired together and have to fight police in different rooms together.
In this overcrowded studio CG landscape, even in Fleischer's previous filmography, it’s a breath of fresh air that the focus is on creating real movie magic through practical set pieces rather than relying on CGI. David Scheunemann (The Fall Guy, Bullet Train), a frequent production designer for David Leitch, does superb work, building grand, expansive, illusionist-centric sets that evoke a magical stage.
Welcome back Y2K-era action blockbuster camp!
Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Justice Smith as Charlie, and Ariana Greenblatt as June in Now You See Me: Now You Don’t. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes/Lionsgate | Copyright © 2025 Lionsgate
With their lively chemistry, realistic sets, formula, and notably light tone, this installment evokes nostalgia, reaching the level of camp from Y2K blockbusters. I'm talking about movies such as The Mummy, Scooby-Doo, and National Treasure — an era of cinema where you were on board for the high-scale adventure, the ragtag ensemble's pervasive energy, and the filmmaker taking each practical set piece to their advantage, making it a playground. In the same vein as Scooby-Doo, this is a narrative about the reunification of the band that takes down the scums of society. Despite the lack of depth, the interrogation of character dynamics and their eventual reunion make for an entertaining show.
Final Statement
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is a balm for the weird time we’re in now. Every blockbuster movie is overstuffed with green screen and a self-serious tone. It’s cathartic watching a group of generational magicians exposing crypto bros and war criminals, as well as including a "reparations" component, as we suffer through the current Trump 2.0 administration. These Robin Hood-like illusionist superheroes provide the magic we didn't realize we needed or deserved. Wishing for a better time in blockbuster theatrical filmmaking and a better world that may be silly, but was once magical.
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