The Media Tourist

Third installment of hocus-pocus franchise adds new youthful hijinks

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher
Directed by Reuben Fleischer
Rated PG-13

In theaters Friday, Nov. 14

Ready for some (more) hocus-pocus-y hijinks?

The gang’s all here in this third installment of the “magical” movie franchise about a group of superstar illusionists known as the Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher), who use their smoooooth sleight-of-hand skills for much more than just pulling rabbits out of hats.

This time they’re again Robin Hoods, now on an international mission to bring down a nefarious diamond heiress (award-winning British actress Rosamond Pike, from Gone Girl and Saltburn) at the head of a global crime syndicate of arms dealers, drug traffickers and warlords. And if you’re a fan of the previous flicks, you’ll be delighted to see Morgan Freeman returning to his role as the Horsemen’s mentor, a grand senior wizard with a few tricks still up his sleeve.

But this movie’s main trick is introducing a new supporting cast of younger tricksters. There’s Dominic Sessa (who made a most impressive debut opposite Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers), Ariana Greenblatt (she played Sasha in 2023’s Barbie) and Justice Smith (from the horror flick I Saw the TV Glow). They’re the new Horsemen, now saddled up to take this franchise even further down the road.  

There are twists and turns, snappy quips, a slick, sneering villainess, and plenty of situations where some stage-magic smarts come in handy—misdirection, card trickery, holograms, disguises, switcheroos, escapes, hypnotism and vanishing. It all feels like James Bond lite, with no substantial danger; you just know the Horsemen will somehow be able to wiggle out of any sticky situation, whether it’s a locked jail cell, a hall of mirrors or an oversized glass box slowly filling with sand…and them locked in it.

The movie also gives a big bow to the art of classic performance magic, with references to great illusionists and their groundbreaking tricks, plus how large-scale subterfuge and deception—inflatable tanks, dummy parachutists, sound effects—were used in World War II to dupe the Germans. It’s a magical history tour.

All the chasing and running and wily outsmarting lead to a big “trick” of a finale and a cameo appearance by yet another star (no spoilers here!) who played an integral part in previous movies.

“Everything that disappears, reappears,” says Eisenberg’s character. True dat: Just like this durable movie property, which reappears yet again to remind us just how much razzmatazz entertainment can be found in a star-packed bag of tricks.  

—Neil Pond