Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dominic Sessa, Dave Franco, Justice Smith, Isla Fisher and Ariana Greenblatt in “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.”
Lionsgate/Katalin Vermes
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, starring Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Dave Franco and Ilsa Fisher, is new in theaters this weekend. Do Rotten Tomatoes critics think the Now You See Me franchise has any magic left?
Directed by Reuben Fleischer (Zombieland, Venom), Now You See Me: Now You Don’t follows the release of the original Now You See Me film in 2013 and its first sequel in 2016. The logline for Now You See Me: Now You Don’t reads, “The Four Horsemen return along with a new generation of illusionists performing mind-melding twists, turns, surprises, and magic unlike anything ever captured on film.”
Rated PG-13, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t also stars Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt and Rosamund Pike.
As of the publication of this article, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t has a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 58% “rotten” based on 66 reviews. RT’s Critics Consensus, audience summary and Popcornmeter score based on verified user ratings are still pending.
What Are Individual Critics Saying About ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’?
Mark Kennedy of The Associated Press is among the top critics on RT who gives the film a “fresh” rating, writing in his review summary, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t does what sequels apparently must do these days — load up the characters, return to favorite bits and go global — but nails the trick, a crowd-pleasing return.”
William Bibbiani of The Wrap also gives Now You See Me: Now You Don’t a “fresh” rating, but he has some reservations. In his review summary on RT, Bibbiani writes, “It’s a magic act without the storytelling, so every moment is the prestige, and none of it feels prestigious. It’s goofy and shallow and delightful and in a couple days I’ll forget I ever saw it.”
Caroline Siede of AV Club also likes Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, writing in her RT review summary, “The star-studded cast clearly loves making these movies together and that sense of enthusiasm goes a long way towards selling the knowingly ridiculous magic.”
Sarah Tai-Black of the Globe and Mail is among the top critics on RT who gives the film a “rotten” rating, writing in her review, “For a franchise built on surprise and misdirection, the spectacle of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is all too familiar and lacking in the sheer gusto and ridiculous flair that made the original movie such a hit.”
Nick Schager of The Daily Beast isn’t a fan of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, either, writing in his RT review summary, “Its most impressive feat, however, is finding a way to somehow be even duller than its predecessors.”
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t also gets a “rotten” rating from Tim Grierson of Screen International, who writes on RT, “Incoming director Ruben Fleischer keeps the action coming at a steady clip. But nearly 10 years after the last sequel, Now You Don’t fails to make the franchise’s limitations disappear.”
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is playing in Thursday previews before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday.