NOW YOU SEE ME: NOW YOU DON'T (2025)

Genre: Action/Suspense
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike, Morgan Freeman
Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins
Rating: PG13 (Some Violence & Coarse Language)
Released By: Encore Films
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 13 November 2025

Synopsis: 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.

Movie Review:

Absence makes the heart grow fonder – at least that is what director Ruben Fleischer and his army of screenwriters (notably, Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie, Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, working off a story by Eric Warren Singer) hope with their latest instalment in the ‘Now You See Me’ franchise.

Nearly a decade on from the last film, this third chapter introduces a trio of young illusionists – cocky front man Bosco Leroy (Dominic Sessa), ace pickpockter June (Ariana Greenblatt), and behind-the-scenes magic buff Charlie (Justice Smith) – alongside the original crew comprising arrogant leader J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), laid-back hypnotist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), unassuming card trickster Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and nimble escape artist Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher).

It is a crowded ensemble all right, and even more so than its predecessors, this one ends up skimping on the character work and focusing instead on the heist itself as well as the tension between the legacy characters and the younger magicians. The former involves the theft of a massive diamond owned by Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), the heiress of a lucrative company that is also the head of an international crime syndicate. True to the series therefore, the score is not about enriching their own pockets but rather stealing from the unscrupulous and returning the riches to those who deserve it more.

The dynamic between the OG and the Gen-Z magicians plays out over a number of lively setpieces, including at a private party in Antwerp where they execute the theft, an estate in France that holds more secrets than The Eye can see (pun intended), and at the Yes Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi where Veronika dictates that they return her diamond in exchange for Meritt’s release. It is a lot to juggle with close to 10 players, and perhaps even more if you count the cameos from Lula May (Lizzy Caplan) and Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) for pure fanplay, and even though you can feel the strain from the weight of so many actors, Fleischer keeps his movie fleet-footed enough from one setpiece to another.

To their credit, each of the actors hold their own, although we will say that it is the OG who steals the show. Eisenberg energises any and every encounter with the same high-wire vigour that he brought to ‘The Social Network’, and it is a joy to watch how he ribs the younger three after their opening act (which teases a return of the Four Horsemen no less) as well as Meritt and Jack. Harrelson brings his playful best to the game, while Franco reprises his unassuming foil next to Fisher’s kookiness. Of the new trio, only Smith stands out, and that is because his character ends up being part of the big reveal. On the other hand, Pike elevates what would otherwise be a standard villain with a deliciously icy turn, and the way she owns every scene she is in qualifies as a magic trick all by itself.

If the objective of the ‘Now You See Me’ movies is simply forgettable fun, then this instalment more than lives up to the mission. As its predecessors have demonstrated, the convoluted plotting, elaborate heists and colourful villains are all part of the formula, and as long as you expect nothing more, you’ll have a fine and even enjoyable time round with this mix of new and old, especially with their witty and lively verbal and physical interplay. That you’ll be walking out looking forward to the already announced fourth film, especially with the return of the grandmaster of The Eye just before the end credits, shows that Fleischer and his crew have succeeded in reviving the magic.

Movie Rating:

(As fun and forgettable as its predecessors, this revival of the 'Now You See Me' franchise brings the same brand of escapist fun of the earlier two movies)

Review by Gabriel Chong