Now You See Me: Now You Don't Review: The Four Horsemen are back

We are living in a sequel-pocalypse. Every film is getting a sequel; films you didn't even think you'd hear from again are coming back in hopes that brand name recognition is enough to gain some box office traction. 'Den of Thieves', 'A Simple Favour' and 'The Accountant' are just some films that in 2025 became franchises. You then also have films like 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and 'Tron: Ares' that exist to revive dead franchises. If you walk down the hall at your local cinema, 90% of the posters up are for pre-existing IPs. 'Now You See Me' released in 2013, with a sequel in 2016. Both grossed over $300 million at the box office. While they saw success, their impact wasn't everlasting, there wasn't a huge fanbase, and while audiences enjoyed them, no one was ride or die for The Four Horsemen. But because it's 2025 and everything has to have a sequel, the 'Now You See Me' gang are back for another magical heist.

'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' takes place 10 years after the events of the second film. A group of fans of The Four Horsemen, Charlie (Justice Smith, 'I Saw the TV Glow', 'Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves'), Bosco (Dominic Sessa, 'The Holdovers') and June (Ariana Greenblatt, 'Borderlands', 'Barbie') have been using their talents to host shows with projections of the original Horsemen. Attempting to follow in their footsteps, they use their magic to expose corrupt people. When original member Danny (Jesse Eisenberg, 'A Real Pain', 'Zombieland: Double Tap') is tasked with working with them by the Eye, the original Horsemen are now forced to team up with these newbies. Merritt (Woody Harrelson, 'Fly Me to the Moon', 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage'), Jack (Dave Franco, 'Together', 'The Disaster Artist'), and returning after not being with them last time, Henley (Isla Fisher, 'Dog Man', 'Strays'), are tasked with taking down Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike, 'Saltburn', 'Gone Girl'), the matriarch of a diamond company. The company sells mined diamonds for a high price to make dirty money become clean. The Horsemen are set on a global quest to take down the tycoon.

SWITCH: 'NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON'T' TRAILER

'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' is a fun and perfectly fine sit. It's not groundbreaking, but perfectly serviceable. Its cast is so large, so you never really get to spend time with anyone, but the actors are having an enjoyable time, so it makes it an enjoyable watch. However, similar to the last film, they really push the "magic" element here. There is so much that simply is not magic - movie magic maybe, but real magic... not a chance. They are just people performing a heist; the film seems aware of this and just ignores the magicians' roots and rolls into a full action film.

Now to my favourite aspect of this film, the one and only Rosamund Pike. For some reason, she has a South African accent. Every time a new scene with her starts, I was giggling; it's so incredibly camp and unnecessary that she has this accent. Pike is a very talented actor, but my god, it's awful. Still, I was so overcome with joy every time she started speaking that I think we need to give her all the Oscars for her phenomenally bad work accent work.

Its cast is so large, so you never really get to spend time with anyone, but the actors are having an enjoyable time, so it makes it an enjoyable watch.

I also don't understand why we need to treat every franchise like 'Avengers: Endgame'. So many of these sequels feel the need to make "nostalgic" grand callbacks for no reason. Every sequel, of course, has callbacks, but the need to have the music swell and everyone pause and almost break the fourth wall waiting for the audience to applaud is weird. Just let film be its own thing and stop adding in these forced moments for no reason.

For the one ride or die of the 'Now You See Me' franchise (and make sure you buy your tickets to 'Now You See Me' live show coming to the Opera House, for some reason), I'm glad to say that the third instalment is perfectly fine. It's a serviceable, enjoyable film that you will forget the second you leave the theatre. If it's magic you're looking for, you've come to the wrong film - but if a fun, mindless heist film is what you're craving, then you're in the right place.

WRITERS:	Seth Grahame-Smith
	Michael Lesslie
	Rhett Reese

CAST:	Jesse Eisenberg
	Woody Harrelson
	Dave Franco
	Isla Fisher
	Justice Smith
	Dominic Sessa
	Ariana Greenblatt
	Rosamund Pike
	Morgan Freeman

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PRODUCERS:	Bobby Cohen
	Alex Kurtzman

NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON'T

THE FOUR HORSEMEN ARE BACK