Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me 2 – A year after the Four Horsemen have gone into hiding, the magicians wait impatiently to hear what secret society, ‘The Eye’ has in store for them next; member, Henley has left and new girl, Lula is keen to prove her impressive magic skills. When their big moment comes, their performance is hijacked by a mysterious man who kidnaps them and separates them for their leader, Dylan. Discovering that their nemesis is Walter Malbry, a technological genius who faked his own death, the horsemen are forced to steal a sensitive device which could cause global chaos in the wrong hands. With the team already falling apart, can they work together in order to do what’s right?

Now You See Me 2 (2016) – Director: Jon M. Chu

By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49072530

Rating: 12

Running Length: 129 mins

Starring: Jessie Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Daniel Radcliffe

Genre: Thriller

REVIEW: ‘NOW YOU SEE ME 2’

Following on from the popular 2013 movie, ‘Now You See Me’, the gang are back (undergoing the depressingly common ‘interchangeable female character’ switch). ‘NYSM2’ sees the Four Horsemen taking on a new assignment which goes horribly wrong, forcing them to compromise their morals in order to protect themselves. Trapped into a no-win predicament, they do all they can to stop those who are pulling the strings.

Unlike the first movie, thankfully, ‘NYSM2’ delves further into the characters of Dylan (played by Mark Ruffalo) and Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman) and, as two of the older members of the cast, they appear to lead more interesting lives than the seemingly privileged Four Horsemen. Having said that, this is a movie that does not require a great deal of thought;  much like the first, ‘NYSM2’ is still mostly style over substance. While it relies on the more realistic sleight of hand than the big unbelievable stunts of the first, there are still plenty of times that suspension of belief is needed and the plot often takes a turn for the absurd.

With numerous magician’s tricks throughout the movie to keep audiences glued to the screen, ‘NYSM2’ may not be a cerebral drama but it’s great fun to watch, isn’t taxing on the brain and is a fantastic accompaniment to a big box of popcorn.

CONTENT: IS ‘NOW YOU SEE ME 2’ SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN?

The movie opens with a magician attempting a stunt involving him being locked into a safe and thrown into a lake. His son of around ten years old watches with pride but after the safe is dropped in the lake, several minutes pass and it is made clear that something has gone seriously wrong with the trick. The boy becomes distraught and fights against a man who holds him back from jumping into the lake to save his father.

A character walks alone in a dark tunnel and comes into an open area that has posters of drawn people on the walls. A deep, disembodied voice booms out while the camera shows the faces on the posters in close-up. This could be quite scary for younger viewers but the character who stands in the room is not fearful in any way and remains upbeat throughout the scene.

A woman lies on a sofa, leaning over one of the arms; a man talks to her and accidentally sets off a series of events, culminating in a huge blade slicing off the woman’s head. While this is initially shocking, the man is not surprised and continues to talk to the woman making it clear that she is alive and what has just been seen is an elaborate illusion.

A knife cuts deeply into a woman’s arms, she screams in shock and pain and the wound is shown in graphic close-up with lots of blood. However, all is not what it seems and later details lessen the impact so the effect should not linger on older children, although it may for younger children.

A partially obscured, black and white animated face appears on large screens on a stage and a loud, deep voice booms out over the crowd. The animation of the face switches from almost realistic to simplistic geometric shapes and back again constantly. Due to the malicious nature of this ‘character’, this scene is likely to be quite frightening for a lot of young kids.

A character is beaten and forced into a safe which is then dropped into water. As water begins to seep into the safe, the character begins to panic and tries to fight against the door but is unable to make it move. This lasts several minutes, the claustrophobia and realism is likely to be scary for kids.

A man threatens a woman with a knife in order to control her and her friends. She is very scared by this and begs her friends to do what they are being told to do. This fear does not last long and the woman does not get harmed.

Several people are threatened with being thrown out of a plane while it is in the air, they become extremely distressed and desperately try to hold onto anything they can to stop those who are dragging them to the door and they beg their captors not to kill them. When the first of them gets thrown out, the others become even more panicked, especially as they are dragged closer to the door.

CAN I SEE A CLIP?

VERDICT: IS ‘NOW YOU SEE ME 2’ FOR KIDS?

Like its predecessor, ‘Now You See Me 2’ has its flaws, however, it is undoubtedly fun, entertaining and a great movie to enjoy with friends and family, especially if you enjoy talking through the various stunts, discussing how plausible they are or how they are done before the reveal. Due to some scary moments and bad language, we feel this movie is appropriate for kids aged nine and over.

• Violence: 2/5 (A brawl breaks out and lasts for around five minutes. Numerous punches are thrown and many of them connect, however this scene is not gory and due to quick camera cuts, the violence is not strong. A woman holds a dove in front of a crowd and then unexpectedly pulls off its head, the crowd gasps with horror but it is quickly revealed to be a trick and the bird has not been harmed)
• Emotional Distress: 2/5
• Fear Factor: 3/5 
• Sexual Content: 2/5 (while being searched, a woman removes her lacy black bra in front of a number of men although this is not done in a sexual way. Someone’s hairstyle is described as ‘old man pubes’)
• Bad Language: 3/5 (frequent moderate cursing and blasphemy throughout) 
• Dialogue: 0/5
• Other notes: Deals with themes of magic, teamwork, strengths and weaknesses of individuals, overcoming weaknesses, secret societies, deception and taking risks for the greater good.

Words by Laura Record

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