Tag: Lionsgate

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Street Date 2/17/26;
Lionsgate;
Action;
Box Office $61.88 million;
$29.96 DVD, $39.99 Blu-ray, $42.99 UHD BD;
Rated ‘PG-13’ for some strong language, violence and suggestive references.
Stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman.

The third “Now You See Me” film may be the most frustrating entry in the franchise so far, if only for how the requisite plot twists diminish the story and several key characters upon a second viewing.

As with the first two films, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t follows a team of stage magicians who use their talents to conduct complicated heists against corrupt millionaires to alleviate economic injustices. The target this time around is Veronika Vanderberg, a South African diamond heiress who specializes in money laundering for dangerous international criminals. Exposing her crimes involves not only a reunion of the Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan) after a 10-year absence, but also recruiting a team of newcomers (Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt) who have been impersonating them.

The result is a slick adventure that works a lot better than the nonsensical second film, which drowned itself in plot twists and visual effects. Now You Don’t smartly plays to its biggest strength, the audience’s affection for the characters, which includes Fisher’s return after missing out on the second movie. It’s especially a delight to see her paired with her replacement from Now You See Me 2, Lizzy Caplan, who was left out of the film’s early marketing materials in order to surprise the audience.

The film also delivers a healthy dose of performance magic, which according to the bonus materials was largely achieved practically with in-camera effects. The centerpiece is a showdown in which the characters take turns trying to outdo each other with their magic skills.

However, the film is hampered by the same drawback as the rest of the franchise — the way numerous plot twists redefine not only earlier scenes, but also earlier movies, in ways that don’t make much sense. In fact, Now you Don’t seems dumber on rewatch once it’s understood how the clues were planted in the first place, and it’s obvious that characters are acting surprised at outcomes they themselves planned, for the benefit of no one but the audience.

There’s also a legitimate concern that certain characters shouldn’t be so accepting about the film’s major reveal given the significant consequences of the deception. Compounding the issue is that the home entertainment editions of the film include an alternate ending that eliminates many of the plot holes; it was replaced to make room for a different cameo when leaving it in would have made more sense.

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The excised coda is one of 10 deleted and extended scenes that run a total of 13-and-a-half minutes.

Other bonus materials include an informative feature commentary with director Ruben Fleischer and producer Bobby Cohen that provides some interesting tidbits about the making of the film and tie-ins to the previous two.

There are also more than 45 minutes of good behind-the-scenes featurettes, led by the nine-minute “Now You See Me … Again,” which mostly focuses on reuniting the cast for a third film. The eight-and-a-half-minute “Lord of Illusions” looks at Fleischer’s involvement with the project, while the seven-minute “Heart of Stone” details Pike’s role. The six-and-a-half-minute “Quick Change” delves into the film’s costumes, while the eight-and-a-half-minute “Nothing Up My Sleeve” explores the creation of the film’s magic effects using consultants to train the cast, and the four-and-a-half-minute “The Magic Castle” gives viewers a tour of the sets and locations.

The featurettes and deleted scenes are available with both the disc and digital editions of the film, while the commentary is offered just on the discs.

Fandango at Home has an exclusive four-minute “Spellbound Speedyway” featurette about the climactic racecar chase in Abu Dhabi.