Twelve years is a long time between magic tricks. The Now You See Me franchise returns with most of its original crew intact, Isla Fisher back among the Four Horsemen, Jesse Eisenberg’s Danny still leading the charge, and Woody Harrelson doing his thing.
Director Ruben Fleischer, known for Zombieland and Venom, takes over this time, bringing along a younger generation: Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dominic Sessa. The result is a film caught between two versions of itself, one that wants to dazzle you with illusions and globe-trotting heists, and one that’s been simplified to reach the biggest audience possible.
Here’s the thing: it works as entertainment, even when it doesn’t work as a proper Now You See Me film.
The setup is familiar. A new trio of magicians, Charlie, Bosco, and June, are running cons using deepfakes and holograms when Danny shows up with a job from “The Eye.” The target is Veronika Vanderberg, played by Rosamund Pike with an icy accent and matching wardrobe. She runs a diamond empire that launders money for criminals, and the Horsemen’s mission is to steal the world’s largest diamond from her.
What follows is a trip across Belgium, France, and Abu Dhabi, with heist sequences that mix classic sleight-of-hand with modern tech. There’s an escape from a French castle using an Ames room where gravity and perspective get twisted, a sequence with Relativist stairs that bend logic, and enough misdirection to keep you watching even when the plot starts thinning out. These moments capture what made the franchise fun in the first place: the thrill of watching impossible things happen and trying to figure out how they did it.
The problem is that the film doesn’t trust you to keep up. The dialogue has been watered down to where characters explain their own tricks, sometimes more than once. It feels like every line was built to translate easily rather than land with impact. Conversations that should snap with energy instead drag along, making sure no one in any market gets confused. It’s annoying because you can tell something sharper was there originally, just buried under all the over-explaining.
The returning cast does what they can. Eisenberg brings his usual nervous energy to Danny, though he’s given less to do than before. Harrelson gets a few moments to shine as Merritt, but even he seems held back by a script that won’t let him loose. Fisher’s return as Henley should feel like a bigger deal, but she’s folded back into the group without much celebration. Dave Franco’s Jack gets some solid moments, and his comment about the world needing magic after pandemics and AI feels like one of the few lines with real bite. Morgan Freeman shows up as Thaddeus Bradley, bringing weight whenever he’s on screen, which isn’t nearly enough.
Pike does her best as the villain, but she’s stuck with an accent that feels generic and dialogue that never lets her be more than a cold obstacle. She’s supposed to be threatening, but the script doesn’t give her room to be interesting.
The younger cast does better, mostly because they bring fresh energy. Justice Smith’s Charlie has charm and makes you root for him even when the plot forgets about him for stretches. Ariana Greenblatt gets a few standout moments as June, especially when her lockpicking and pickpocket skills come into play. Dominic Sessa, coming off his work in The Holdovers, does solid work as Bosco, though like the others, he’s more of a type than a full character.
And yet, despite these problems, the film is never boring. At just under two hours, it moves. Fleischer knows how to keep things visually interesting, even if his direction lacks the creativity the material needs. The locations look great, even if some choices feel picked for maximum international appeal. Why does someone drive a Grand Prix car through Abu Dhabi? Because it looks good and plays well in certain markets, not because the story needs it. But in the moment, it’s entertaining enough that you don’t really mind.
The heist sequences, when they’re allowed to breathe, remind you why this franchise worked. There’s real skill in how the illusions are set up and shot, even if the editing sometimes cuts away too fast. The film’s best moments come when it leans into the spectacle and lets you sit with the impossibility of what you’re seeing.
The final reveal is where the film surprises you. It’s genuinely clever, the kind of twist that makes you rethink what came before and want to go back and catch what you missed. You can tell someone who understood heist stories was involved, and it lands well enough to lift the entire film looking back. It’s not enough to fix everything earlier, but it’s enough to make you leave the theater feeling better about what you watched than you probably should.
There’s also a welcome cameo at the end that sets up a potential fourth film, and honestly, it’s exciting enough to make you hope they get another chance.
What’s annoying about Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is that it didn’t have to choose between being entertaining and being smart. The first two films managed both. This one settles for being a spectacle, choosing broad appeal over the creative storytelling that made the franchise different. The second film did huge business internationally, with most of its money coming from overseas markets. The studio clearly looked at those numbers and decided to go even harder in that direction, making the film as accessible as possible to global audiences. That’s a business choice that makes sense, but it comes at a cost.
The film strips out complexity for clarity, wit for explanation, and edge for safety. It’s like a magic trick where the magician tells you how it’s done before they perform it. Sure, you still see the trick, but half the fun is gone.
Still, if you’re willing to meet the film where it is, there’s fun to be had. It’s breezy, it’s colorful, and it moves fast enough that you won’t get bored. The cast has chemistry even when the script doesn’t give them much to work with, and there are enough genuinely clever moments scattered throughout to remind you why you liked these characters in the first place. Lizzy Caplan returns as Lula and immediately makes every scene she’s in better, proving the franchise still has life when it lets its performers play.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is a film that entertains despite itself. It’s been smoothed out and simplified, built to play everywhere without challenging anyone, but there’s enough of the old magic left that it doesn’t feel like a total loss. It’s annoying because you can see the better movie it could have been, but it’s also fun enough that you don’t regret the time watching it.
For a franchise built on illusions and misdirection, the real trick here is making you think spectacle alone is enough. And for two hours, it almost is.
Release Date: November 14, 2025
Runtime: Approximately 2 hours
Streaming Service: Theatrical release
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Morgan Freeman, Rosamund Pike, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa