How has life been treating you? .... Mm hmmm. That's cool. .... Ya don't say? .... I know what you mean, but we can talk about that later. I have to write a movie review. ..... The one about movies. I've been doing it for some time now. ..... Yes. ..... Ok, seriously, stop talking! I have to write this now.
Here she goes....
Now You See Me (PG-13) 2013
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, and Ilsa Fisher
Overview - 4 of the world's most amazing magicians are called together to perform the magic tricks that will put all other illusions to shame. All to mask their secret plot to steal a vault full of money. "Look closer. Because the closer you look, the less you'll see".
Review - Director Louis Leterrier has not impressed me in the past. He has taken the reigns on such abysmal works of crap as "Wrath of the Titans", Transporter 2", and I would go as far as to say that even "The Incredible Hulk" was lame, in some regards. First off, Liv Tyler. She claims to be an actress, but I have yet to see any evidence of that. Put a bag over her head and maybe I'll consider watching her try to recite lines. Needless to say that when I see Leterrier's name attached to this film, regardless of how cool the trailer looked, I was scared it would suck the big one. But I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, I can forgive anyone for mistakes. Except maybe the 52% of Americans who inserted their heads firmly into their butts and voted a second term for that incompetent fool they call a President. But I digress.
Let's talk about this cast. Jesse Eisenberg, who hasn't thrilled me ever. Ilsa Fisher, who is as cute as a button, and perky as all crap. She just makes me smile when she's on screen. Woody Harrelson, who (despite his constant delivery of hilarity) always bothers me, for some reason. Dave Franco, brother of James Franco. Pretty much his only credit. Way to be related to an undeserved famous guy Dave. Mark Ruffalo, who always delivers, but also bugs me. I don't love him as much as most. Then you've got the power house actors like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. Likely paid top dollar so their name would be associated with the film. Caine and Freeman sells tickets. They gave Eisenberg the reigns in this film, and I think that is a mistake. The guy has made a couple good flicks, but I don't think it's due to his ability to act. I believe it's moreover the story and ability for the crew to make the movie look good IN SPITE of him. Ilsa Fisher ("Wedding Crashers" / "Bachellorette") is really goofy/funny in most movies, but was given no humor in this one. Though she's still an entertaining actress, I really wish they would have let her have some fun with her character. Woody Harrelson makes me laugh. His face bothers me, but every time I sit down and watch him, he busts me up. He has a few witty lines in this, but I think they, again, mostly got him for the prestige of his name. Now Dave Franco......*sigh* He adopted the dumb-ass smirk of his brother James......That's it.
This movie had a budget of over $75,000,000. Most of it probably went to product for Eisenberg's hair. He looks like "that guy", don't you think? To date it has grossed over $120,000,000. I guess the film had some legs after all. The writing team for this movie was a little odd to me. You've got a 3 man team that consists of a guy who wrote on "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure", a dude who wrote for "Remember the Titans", and a guy who has never written any screenplay before. That's a fairly dangerous combo. Personally, I felt the dialogue fell a little flat. Harrelson carried most of the comedic lines (few as there were), and Franco.....was ...... there. As I mentioned before, Ilsa Fisher has the ability to be a great improv actress. She has made up a lot of junk in her previous silver screen appearences, and it bugged me that they made her play such a straight-laced character. Oh well, it was not my call. I think the biggest strike they had against them was that they gave away the ending in the trailer. The big twist to the 3rd trick was not a twist at all, because you saw it coming a mile away. So, that was disappointing to me. Plus, the one character I didn't understand in the slightest was Mark Ruffalo. Here's a guy who *SPOILER ALERT* Apparently was so traumatized by his father's death, and so furious at Michael Caine's refusal to pay the settlement, that he decided to go to school and study like a MUTHA! Then go through the process of becoming a cop, then a detective, then get a job with the FBI. Then he had to become such a big shot that he would be able to just claim any case he wanted to. Putting him in the perfect position to take over the case when these magicians show up some day. What if even a single component went awry? I guess he could always go egg Michael Caine's Porche. *END SPOILER*
Now, don't get me wrong. The movie was very pretty, and fairly entertaining. But if you really dissect it, you come away with a movie that would make it into the top 20 movies to watch on an airplane. Hidden just behind "Step Brothers" and "The Scorpion King". I found out my sister went to see this film more than once in the theater. To you madam I say, There's $22 you'll never get back. Redbox! Would have cost you 98% less, and would have issued the same experience. :-) I tell you what. If prices keep going up like this, I might think of seeing a movie once a year. It would have to be EPIC though. Very few movies make it into that category for me. "Star Trek", "The Dark Knight", maybe "Harry Potter". Especially when you have guys like James Cameron ("Titanic" / "Avatar") artificially shooting prices up, and constantly re-releasing their movies, simply so they can say they can lie and say they had the highest grossing movies of all time. You are a liar Mr. Cameron.
Overall I'll give these magicians a generous 3 out of 5. I would watch it again for Harrelson's jokes, and I would recommend it to people who like entertainment for entertainment's sake.
Suggestions or feeback? Email me at entertaindave@gmail.com and follow me on Twitter @entertaindave
No comments:
Post a Comment