On this episode of ReelTalk, host R.L. Terry is joined by DJ Jax of WKGC's Morning Cast to dive into a film that proves not all magic tricks are created equal. In fact… some should’ve stayed in rehearsal.

The real magic of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t—and I say this with all sincerity—is how it made it past opening night.

Borrowing a line from Madeline Kahn in Clue, ‘he was an illusionist… he wasn’t a very good illusionist,’ and that sentiment fits this tertiary entry all too well.

What should’ve been a clever caper bursting with sleight of hand and misdirection instead plays like a streaming movie that wandered into the multiplex by accident.

Couple that with a plot more hole-ridden than a jury ignoring the obvious, stakes that vanish faster than a bad magician’s assistant, and social commentary delivered with all the nuance of a bumper sticker, and you have a film that desperately wants to dazzle but never flickers.

After the show today, perhaps you’ll decide for yourself whether or not this card trick flopped, whether or not this budding franchise might be running on fumes, or whether this movie should—like any failed illusion—simply disappear. Let’s get into it.

Since we ultimately have two generations of Horsemen in this movie, it makes sense to approach it from two generational perspectives. 

Enjoy!