Entertaining, mostly thanks to the cast, but it's a step down from the first. The first had the element of surprise so to speak. With this one, you're just waiting for the big twist, and then the bigger twist that comes at the very end. Both are a little disappointing, and the one at the very end is easy to see coming.

What else? Oh, Woody Harrelson plays twins in this one. The first is the Horseman we all remember from the first film. The second is evil who is a henchman for the bad guys, has the same panache for hypnotism as his brother, has an afro, and has the biggest and whitest teeth on the planet. Why? I don't know...and it's not like the film does anything with it. I was convinced that during the last act we were going to get a good old switcheroo, with the Horseman version taking out the evil one and infiltrating himself in with the bad guys and screw them over that way. Nope, the movie doesn't do that. He's just a henchman...

The other thing that bugged me, unlike the last film, was the CGI magic. It didn't bug me throughout, but only in one specific scene involving a heist to get the macguffin (a chip in some machine that just happens to be the size of a playing card, and if you remember from the first film, Dave Franco just happens to be good at throwing cards). So naturally, the chip gets attached to the card and the crew has to get it out somehow past the guards. Now on one hand, there is a lot of sleight of hand going on and it's really well done. And you can see that it's real. On the other hand, the card gets thrown around the room like it's nothing (you can see a glimpse of it in the trailer), and of course all of the throws are perfect. It's never believable. It also doesn't help that there is a gag early on in the movie involving Franco's character trying to teach Harrelson's character how to throw cards (this is also in the trailer) and we see that even after a year, he's still fucking terrible at it. Yet in this scene, only days later, he can now throw a card perfectly with complete accuracy and just the right amount of power. I can suspend my disbelief in a film like this, I can even forgive most of the CGI magic. But this is just fucking lazy screenwriting. And if you didn't like the CGI magic in the first movie, you will not like this scene.

Minor gripes aside, the movie is almost as enjoyable as the first one, the mystery is dumb fun (even if the payoff is a bit of a letdown) and the cast is still game.

B

Didn't like the first, kinda loathed this one. There are some entertaining bits (the bit with passing the card was pretty cool), but the film just feels so hollow and the story is just stupid. Radcliffe is wasted. Lizzy Caplan is a more entertaining member than Isla Fisher was in the last one but I could give a rat's ass about any of these characters, especially Mark Ruffalo. It just seems so phony that so many people would applaud/be invested for their "finale" or whatever.

I didn't see the first one, but this sequel was quite an enjoyable little puzzle movie with outlandish characters. Nothing too challenging, but it's impressively consistent bafflegab sold me for the running time. *B*

This movie is just sort of there. For all of the first one's showboating, at least it was entertaining and at times clever. This one tries to do too many illusions that don't make any sense, and it just all ends in a collective shrug. C-

This takes away the mystery element that the original managed to create and brings us a narrative to follow with the main team. It could have been good way of doing things had the rest of the storyline been more mysterious or grabbing. The final acts is lame and more people doesn't mean better tricks, I do think they try to up the ante here with the tricks but the money seems to be spent on the wrong moves always. The side story of who is the group leader also lands with a major thud and seems like an after though. The heist of the chip is the BEST scene of the movie trick wise but even that arc is just useless and is never really used well. All the tricks don't connect in the end to the airplane scene at the end specially the elaborated water trick from Eisenberg.

The actors do well specially Caplan with her comic timing is pretty good addition. Ruffalo and Freeman's story is horrible and negates the good from the first. Caine and Radcliffe are under-utilized. Harelson and Franco do fine but nothing great.

4/10

Now You See Me 2

The entire film is so unbelievably smug that you just want to smack it in the face. Nothing makes any sense, and none of the more creative tricks are reasonably explained. There is a scene in an elevator where Lizzy Caplan is attempting some humour while Eisenberg, Harrelson, and Franco stand there silent with dour faces of regret. You could almost see them saying "why did I sign on for this shit?".

Too many tricks, too many double-crosses, too much faux-misdirection, too much smugness, too much unearned creativity, and too many instances of terrible screenwriting (where the writers work themselves into a dead-end and think they are cleverly getting out of it, but aren't).

D

Pretty awful experience to sit through this. It's still a good cast, but for any of the earnestness the first had, this has none of it. I did like Caplan's inclusion this time, and Woody is cool in two-fold, but I can take no enjoyment from the rest. It's especially painful to see Ruffalo go through the motions here while he can do so much better.

The software card stealing scene was so unpleasant to watch. Other things from reviews above I also totally relate to:
- lazy screenwriting
- feels so hollow and the story is just stupid
- movie is just sort of there

D

Agreed. Goes on for FAR too long and is just preposterous.

I actually loved the card steal scene

Pretty great summer film. B+

Better than the first solely because Lizzy Caplan makes it a lot more enjoyable. It's actually quite fun for the first hour before it divulges into nonsense. This is such a forgettable franchise. C

It is fun, until you realize the stupid fucking guy that made the guards search them in the first place, is actually in on it at the end. Why would this organization let them go through all of this, knowing that Eisenberg is going to a trap, and let Ruffalo basically die unless he had a flashback from his father? This is dumbest "high order" plot in quite some time.

What a cluster fuck of stupid. Harrelson, Franco, and Caplan are solid, and some of of the early trick stuff is fun enough to distract you. The rest is horribly placed together. C-/D+

Entertainingly fast paced and the magic tricks are all cool because of attention to detail to make them doable, especially when they're doing them at the end, the card throwing thing was dumb in so many ways but entertaining I guess. None of the four horseman are real characters and the twist at the end doesn't do much for me compared to the first one. Fisher is missed hotness wise but Lizzy Caplan did great as replacement. Twin Woody worked I guess? Overall, acceptable sequel although the first is better. I'm down for Now You See Me 3.