Now You See Me 2

"We are going out with a show people will never forget."

One year after stunning the world and evading the FBI, the Horsemen are getting restless.  They are in hiding and preparing for a mysterious new job.  Henley (Isla Fisher) left the group, and Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) resents that he is not the leader of the group.  The world still believes Jack Wilder (Franco) is dead, but he is studying with Merritt McKinney (Harrelson) to learn to hypnotize people.  Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) is still heading the FBI task force to track the Horsemen, while serving as the leader of the Horsemen.

The Eye, the secret society of magicians, has a new job for the Horsemen.  They add magician Lula May (Caplan) to the group and head to the launch of a new software program.  During the act, their stage is usurped and their biggest secrets are revealed: Jack is alive and Dylan is working with the Horseman.  As they escape, the Horsemen end up in Macau and are captured by Walter Mabry (Radcliffe).  Mabry wants them to steal a piece of technology, under pain of death.  He is aided by Merritt's twin brother Chase (Harrelson) who also has mentalist abilities.  Meanwhile, Dylan is in hiding from his FBI colleagues, led by Agent Natalie Austin (Lathan), and trying to find his friends.  He is contacted by Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman), who agrees to exchange information for his freedom.  Can the Horsemen complete the heist and escape with their lives?


The sequel to the 2013 film Now You See Me.  I loved that film and I was thrilled to hear that they were making a sequel, especially when it was announced that the sequel would be Now You Don't (it is the perfect title).  Then they changed it NYSM: The Second Act, which still fit with the magician theme.  I was especially disappointed with the title they actually chose, but I enjoyed the film.

Like the first film, this one is set like a magic trick.  They tell you what will happen at the beginning and then the smoke and mirrors until the final reveal.  The script, like the first film, was written by Ed Solomon.  The original director, Louis Leterrier, was replaced by Jon Chu.  Isla Fisher did not return for this film due to her pregnancy.  She was replaced by Lizzy Caplan.

The filmmakers are already planning to make a third film in the series.

Now You See Me 2 (2016) 129 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for violence and some language
Director: Jon M. Chu
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas
Mark Ruffalo as Agent Dylan Rhodes
Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney / Chase McKinney
Dave Franco as Jack Wilder
Lizzy Caplan as Lula May
Daniel Radcliffe as Walter Mabry
Jay Chou as Li
Sanaa Lathan as Agent Natalie Austin
Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley
Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler