The three Now You See Me movies are heist stories where the criminals in question are professional masters of deception—and possibly also of petty theft, burglary, and extortion. But as it turns out, the “Four Horsemen” are stealing for an arguably just cause, rather than personal gain, although of course their primary motivation seems to be that they really enjoy fooling people. After all, that’s why they’re magicians.
That’s why, at some level, I don’t like them. But I still like these movies. (Go figure.)
Magic: YAY or nay?
The pro-magic argument in the first movie is that magic relies on surprise, and people like being surprised; sometimes they’re even delighted. Phony props, misdirection, and sleight of hand… these all create the illusion that something impossible has happened. And this speaks to our faith, that is, our ability to believe things we don’t understand.
That rubs me the wrong way. It sounds too much like “Ignorance is bliss.” In fact, I tend to agree with the magicians’ antagonist, Thaddeus Bradley, a former magician who has devoted his life to exposing magicians’ tricks.
Dylan: “You were one of the great magicians. Why did you stop?”
Thaddeus: ” Do you know how many people went to see magic performed live in the last half decade? About 1.6 million. You know how many DVDs I sold in the same period? Five million.”
Dylan: “Right, so it’s about the money.”
Thaddeus: “Well, the money is only there because the need to know is greater than the desire to be fooled. Like you, I detest those who prey upon the gullibility of the masses.” [emphasis added]
There’s nothing wrong with entertainment, and in fact when I was maybe about 12 years old, I went to a David Copperfield show and enjoyed it. But in some philosophical sense, magic gives me the feeling not of having fun, but of someone having fun at my expense. Jokes are fun when the lightbulb in your head lights up—the surprise is that you suddenly understand something; magic is fun only to the extent that you never do.
Maybe that’s not quite fair? The Illusionist (2006) tells the story of a magician who performs in Vienna in 1889 and gets arrested for summoning a ghost who implicates the prince in the murder of his (the prince’s) fiancée. Most of the movie conceals the magician’s methods to the extent that he seems like an actual wizard. When the reveal comes, as it finally does, it’s as if the audience is gifted a valuable secret; most of the characters remain in the dark. But you might still feel a bit betrayed for having been fooled, or because you’d prefer if the world had actual magic in it, as opposed to just tricks.
The Trilogy
2013: The Four Horsemen assemble in response to a summons from a mysterious magicians’ association called The Eye, and are given instructions for a grand-scale show that seemingly involves robbing a French bank. This and subsequent tasks, it turns out, have a common purpose. The fifth Horseman, shrouded in mystery, has a personal vendetta equally mysterious, and recruited them to help get revenge. Meanwhile, they’re being chased by the FBI (notably, in New Orleans) and an ex-magician who wants to expose their tricks for his own gain. But of course there’s more to it.
2016: I posted about this one previously. The Four (well, five) Horsemen are all set to pull off another stunt, but in the middle of it, they almost get caught by the FBI, and four of them actually get kidnapped and apparently teleported to Hong Kong (their confusion is highly memorable), where they’re told to achieve the theft of some kind of special computer chip, or else. They do this, but then it gets stolen from them, or maybe not; tbh I’m not totally sure. Aaaaand there’s a scene where the fifth Horseman almost drowns; personally I can’t stand water scenes like that. Of course, it all comes out all right in the end, even though the Horsemen get thrown out of a plane. They’re seven steps ahead, so it’s all good. Taa-daa!
2025: The Four Horsemen come together again. There are actually six of them, if you count both the women Horsemen and the secret leader. Then there’s an old guy who represents The Eye. But this movie’s not about them, it’s about a diverse trio of up-and-coming young social justice warrior magicians who aspire to join The Eye, which wants them to steal a massive diamond from the mustache-twirlingly evil South African woman who leads a mining company that launders money for warlords. Do they succeed? Yes. Are there hijinks in France and Abu Dhabi? Also yes. They also almost drown. (Can filmmakers maybe just stop doing that?)
Other Magician-Centric Movies
Perplexity says I might also like:
- The Magician (1958)
- The Magician (2015)
- Sleight (2016)
- Dealt (2017) – documentary about Richard Turner, a blind performer
- Magic in the Moonlight (2014) – has Colin Firth and Emma Stone in it
- The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013) – has Steve Carell and Jim Carrey in it
- Magicians (2007) – has British comedian David Mitchell in it
- Shade (2003)
- The Escape Artist (1982)
