Wednesday 19 June 2013

Gerry Barnaby Film Review: Now You See Me

Genre: Crime Thriller  warning this film does contain flashing images that may affect people with epilepsy
 
Cert: 12A Cert
 
parents advised to read before viewing.
 
Sex & Nudity: A woman pulls her top off to reveal her bra and straddles a man, asking if he can do "tricks" on her like he does in his magic show. After briefly kissing him, the man tells her to go away and she does so, angrily.A man offers to help a woman whom he says seems sexually unsatisfied. She turns down what she calls "meaningless sex" to which he replies "meaningless maybe, but not time-consuming."A man makes a brief but offensive joke about masturbation. It is said quietly but is still audible.
 
Violence & Gore:A magician dives into a tank of piranhas, shouts that she needs help and a man tries unsuccessfully to break the glass with a large pipe; the water turns blood red and the watching crowd screams, a woman in the crowd yells, "BS!" and people turn to see the magician standing there, wet but unharmed.Two men fight with kicks and punches resulting in broken glass and furniture and damaged walls: they seem to throw fireballs at one another, having rolled near a lit fireplace, and then stand up and swing at each other; one man escapes by throwing playing cards like ninja stars and the other a man is shown with bleeding cuts on his face; while in the kitchen, another man is stuck with his jacket sleeves pulled behind him and stuck into a running garbage disposer (he escapes unharmed).In an extended chase sequence, agents and a SWAT team chase four magicians on foot and then in cars; three fistfights end with police detectives handcuffed to each other as the magicians escape, cars swerve in and out of traffic on the streets and a highway and one car crashes into a bridge railing, rolls a dozen times and is left smoking and flaming until an agent rushes to pull out the driver but cannot do it and runs away when a giant explosion fills the screen with flames and smoke, blowing the agent and others out of the shot (we later see some blood on their hands and forehead); we hear the driver of the exploded car died (we do not see the body) and we later hear that he escaped alive.An Interpol agent points a handgun at an unarmed fugitive, but does not fire and the fugitive escapes.FBI agents break into a Las Vegas apartment and arrest four magicians, take them to headquarters and question them about a bank robbery.An FBI agent pulls a handgun and shoots at a magician on a crowded rooftop performance area when another agent knocks the gun off target as it fires; thousands of people are in the crowd, dancing and cheering loudly as play money falls all around them.In a parking garage, a man's SUV pops open and millions of dollars spew out of it; he stares blankly as several police cruisers pull up with sirens and lights and officers arrest him; we see him later in a small cell and hear that he will probably never be released.Four magicians run off a stage and a police officer pulls his handgun and yells "freeze" until a dozen men and women pile on top of the officer. FBI agents chase three people to a rooftop and tackle the only to find mannequins in their places.A man and a woman hide in an armoured car in France and render two guards unconscious using pressure point techniques.A man grabs a woman's wrist as they stand at an empty bar, but she twists him around and slams his head into the bar top (we later see that his forehead is slightly scratched).A man jumps after another man down a garbage chute and they land in debris (the man being chased escapes).In a Las Vegas show four magicians choose a French man from the audience, they place an apparatus on his head and convince him hypnotically that he will teleport to his bank in France and steal all the money from the vault; the man stands in a device that makes him disappear and reappear on large video screen (supposedly in Paris) and French money rains down on the audience; the next morning a manhunt for the unknown thieves begins.A man points a voodoo doll at another man and wishes him bad luck; the second man says that the first man will have the bad luck and we later see the first man learn that he has lost 1.5 million dollars from his bank account and that it is showering down on the crowd around him as the crowd becomes a cheering mob, grabbing the money.In a park late at night, a carousel runs itself as three men and a woman watch; at the invitation of another man that appears out of nowhere, the four board the ride and disappear in a large bright light that fills the screen. Four magicians receive invitations to an event, printed on tarot cards containing skulls, banshees and the word DEATH; they all go to the event held in an abandoned and filthy apartment where they find a rose and a pitcher of water; by putting the flower into the pitcher, they trigger a 3D hologram with information.We hear that a magician locked himself into a faulty safe, was lowered into the Hudson River, and the safe disappeared; the insurance company refused to pay the grief-stricken family.A man steals a cadaver from a hospital morgue and we see the feet and a tagged wrist hanging out of the sheet on a gurney.In an empty warehouse room, a man breaks a glass wall with a sledgehammer, sending glass shattering to the floor.
 
Profanity: 1 F-word, 1 obscene hand gesture, 16 scatological terms, 10 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities
 
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: none

Frightening/Intense Scenes: Some scenes maybe disturbing to some views.

Story:Four magicians each answer a mysterious summons to an obscure address with secrets inside. A year later, they are the Four Horseman, big time stage illusionists who climax their sold out Las Vegas show with a bank apparently robbed for real. This puts agents Dylan Rhodes of the FBI and Alma Vargas of Interpol on the case to find out how they did it. However, this mystery proves difficult to solve even with the insights of the professional illusion expose, Thaddeus Bradley. What follows is a bizarre investigation where nothing is what it seems with illusions, dark secrets and hidden agendas galore as all involved are reminded of a great truth in this puzzle: the closer you look, the less you see.

Likes : I'm not usual one for thriller type film's but this was brilliantly made, it really keeps you thinking to what's going on but not only that it has a twist in the storyline that you never see coming which make this film even more better.I love films like this that keep you guess but not to slow, they keep you thinking to whats going on without reviling to much of the plot until the end which relay made this film worth watching.One scene was a little disturbing but you realise that it illusion but cleverly done,this film really take you in to the limelight world of Vegas magic & deception.i love the twist in the storyline as four magician J. Daniel Atlas played by Jesse Eisenberg, Merritt McKinney played by Woody Harrelson, Jack Wilder played by Dave Franco, Henley Reeves played by the gorgeous & beautiful Isla Fisher who really looks beautiful in this film,as they are all brought together to play mission to the end to find out whats going on & why they were chosen to do this,but what they do bring a lot of trouble for them as Dylan Rhodes FBI played by (hulk star) Mark Ruffalo who is trying to find & arrest them & a former magician Thaddeus Bradley that spends a carrier exposing magician as fraud played by Morgan Freeman.it was like a cat & mouse game with a brilliant twist that really draw you in to the film & make you keep watch it to find out whats gong.if you love crime thrillers i recommend going to see this film,thrillers couldn't get better than this one.

Dislikes : The only thing is there wasn't much magic being show in the storyline i think there could of been a bite more but apart from that this film was good.

Overall : Brilliant twist in the storyline, Best performance from all actors,isla fisher look stunning,magic tricks that outstanding.
 
Rating 4.6 out of 5 for entertainment / 8.4 out of 10 for twist in the storyline

 

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