Ranking the Now You See Me Films from Worst to Best

With the release of Now You See Me: Now You Don't, I decided to rewatch the other two Now You See Me films. The Now You See Me films are about a group of magicians who perform heists and help expose corrupt corporations. I've had a lot of fun with this franchise as it kind of blends Ocean's Eleven with magic. It also has a lot of fun cast members in it with Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, and Daniel Radcliffe. With all that said, here are my thoughts and ranking of the three Now You See Me Films.

3. Now You See Me: Now You Don't

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is the newest film in the franchise and, in my opinion, the weakest. It was fun to see this cast of characters together again after almost 10 years. They are just as charming as ever and bring the same amount of fun. I also found the new, younger magicians to be a solid addition to the story. I like the generational gap that goes on between the two groups and how they compete while also learning from each other. There were also a few fun sequences in the film, like the Eye Estate fight and the diamond heist. This movie was just a lot of fun and a solid crowd-pleaser. What made this movie take the bottom spot is that it just lacked the essence that the other two had. This movie had fewer magic aspects to it. There were a couple of sequences, but it wasn't as interwoven as the other two films. I also felt that the movie was too short for the size cast it had. Nobody really got enough time to have their moment. There were small things here and there, but it didn't feel like any of the characters had any breathing room. Overall, while it may be the weakest of the franchise, I still had fun with this movie.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

2. Now You See Me 2

Now You See Me 2 is a bit of a step down from the original film. With how the first film ends, I wasn't sure how a sequel would work, and this film doesn't really justify its existence. This isn't a bad film, but I would have preferred that they just leave the first film alone. On the positive side, there are several moments that were very fun in this movie. The heist scene was pretty unique, with the way they used playing cards to smuggle out the device they were after. I also liked the whole end sequence where each magician gets to do their own little act before pulling everything together. I thought Daniel Radcliffe was fine as the villain. It was fun to see him in something other than Harry Potter, but I wouldn't call him memorable. I just felt that this movie loses a bit of the intrigue of the original film. With the magicians now at the center of the story, we lose the otherworldly sense they give off in the first film. The movie also loses the whole cat-and-mouse aspect and becomes more of a generic heist movie. In the end, while this is still a decent movie, I don't think it really added enough to justify its existence.

Score: 7/10 Grade: B

1. Now You See Me

The original Now You See Me film is still the best in the series. I like how this film brings a refreshing take to the heist genre with magic while also mixing in a cat and mouse game between the Four Horseman and the FBI. The movie is also unique as it makes the point of view mostly be from the FBI agent instead of the characters pulling off the heist. I thought the Four Horsemen were a lot of fun with Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Isla Fisher. The four have some great chemistry with each other, but there is still some mystery to their characters as they are not the point of view of the story. I was also impressed by how stacked the cast was aside from the four magicians being relatively well known actors, you also have a post-Avengers Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. I also like how the movie uses Morgan Freeman as the device to show how the magicians pull of their heists showing how smart his character is. I also thought the movie had a very good twist in it that shifts the whole perspective of the film on rewatch. Overall, this is a very fun movie and so refreshing to see such a great original story.

Score: 8.5/10 Grade: A-