‘Now You See Me: Now You Do not’ evaluation: Not fairly magical however enjoyable sufficient

You understand millennial nostalgia has reached a harmful peak when there’s a brand new “Now You See Me” in theaters. The final time we encountered the merry band of Robin Hood prankster magicians generally known as the Horsemen, it was the Obama period, when “Now You See Me 2,” the sequel to the hit 2013 movie, opened in the summertime of 2016. Have been we ever so younger?

Again then, the Horsemen, performed by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and both Isla Fisher or Lizzy Caplan because the token lady magician, used the ideas of magic for altruistic functions, redistributing wealth and saving the world from varied evil tech overlords.

We’re in even worse form now, so why not do magic about it? It couldn’t harm and it appears there’s actually nothing else we will do to exert any modicum of management over billionaires who’re exacerbating environmental degradation and harmful know-how.

With “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” director Ruben Fleischer takes over the franchise reins from Jon M. Chu (now preoccupied with “Depraved”), who himself took over from Louis Leterrier (the screenplay is by Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie and Rhett Reese). Some 9 years down the road, contemporary blood is required, so “Now You Don’t” performs like “Now You See Me: The New Class,” introducing a trio of budding magicians who take inspiration from the Horsemen.

A reunion present at a Bushwick warehouse seems to be — you guessed it — an phantasm, with a gaggle of younger aspiring magicians, June (Ariana Greenblatt), Charlie (Justice Smith) and Bosco (Dominic Sessa), aping the Horsemen’s faces and utilizing intelligent presentation with a purpose to rob from the wealthy (corrupt crypto bros) to provide to the poor (their fellow broke Gen-Zers). They’re blissful to proceed their scrappy operation, dwelling in a transformed loft in a bagel manufacturing facility, till an precise Horseman, J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) exhibits up at their place with an invitation within the type of a tarot card, from an entity generally known as the Eye.

Seems they’ve received greater fish to fry: The whale is Veronika Vanderberg (a hilarious Rosamund Pike), a South African diamond heiress with a prize jewel generally known as the Coronary heart Diamond and a really shady household historical past. The search to steal the Coronary heart will take the Horsemen from Antwerp to rural France after which to Abu Dhabi, the place they may use their magical talents to get out of jams, mess with Veronika and in the end convey justice to the South African communities which have been exploited by diamond mining (naturally). This globe-trotting journey may even convey collectively all generations of Horsemen, together with former pals and foes, reminding us that even compared to massive shiny diamonds, a very powerful pure useful resource on this planet is friendship.

The humorous factor in regards to the “Now You See Me” motion pictures, that are delightfully foolish, frothy and in the end fairly silly (in one of the best ways), is that they’re probably not about magic. They’re about puzzles and rubber masks and whipping taking part in playing cards by means of the air and escape rooms. However it’s unclear if something that they do is definitely magic. Positive, there are fantastical illusions (some clearly CGI-enhanced) and Henley (Fisher) is a grasp of escapology, however half the time, the Horsemen are merely organising elaborate ruses after which their “present” consists of explaining how they tricked one individual, which results in that individual’s arrest. Is that magic? It’s misdirection and mendacity and showmanship on an internationally grand scale, however it’s extra “Mission: Inconceivable” than David Copperfield. It’s like if Ethan Hunt received on stage and defined all the things he did to an adoring crowd earlier than giving all of them a financial present, Oprah-style.

If the Horsemen say it’s magic, high quality. Despite the fact that the script is laden with expository dialogue — the quantity of instances they stand in a circle and babble lore at one another is unconscionable — there’s a fleetness to the pacing and the brand new additions are charming, significantly insouciant scamp Sessa, whose Bosco matches vitality with Eisenberg’s smartest-guy-in-the-room conceitedness.

Fleischer’s signature model is slick however chintzy, which works right here. (There’s one thing acceptable for the model of a movie about magicians being being shiny however low-cost.) The primary motion sequence is meaningless, however they get higher all through. Most significantly, Fleischer is aware of there’s a winking component with regards to performing or having fun with magic. It’s campy, it’s tacky, it’s far more enjoyable than you anticipate it to be, however there’s a knowingness to the entire endeavor. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is the form of light-weight, innocent and ephemeral leisure that permits us to be escape artists from actuality for a minute, so go forward and indulge.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune Information Service movie critic.