Director: Louis Leterrier
Running time: 1 hour and 56 minutes
Four independent magicians are joined together under the name “The Four Horsemen” -actually, three horsemen and one horsewoman- and captivate Las Vegas with their show. Their leader, J. Daniel Atlas (aka. Jesse Eisenberg from “The Social Network”) is a card-sharp and his motto is: “The closer you look, the less you see”. Then there is Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), a mentalist that specializes in hypnosis and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), a pickpocket. Finally, last but not least, Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), an escape artist with a very intriguing number that includes human-eating piranhas. However, what is so special about those four is that in their show they… rob a bank and rain the money down to the audience. Not the usual trick with the rabbit that comes out from a hat!
Of course after that, the FBI and the Interpol are after the tracks of The Four Horsemen, who put on their next shows in New Orleans and of course New York for the grand finale! The FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo from Zodiac, The Shutter Island), and the Interpol detective, Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) do their best to capture them and the result is a non-stop chase with incredible twists, but the magicians are always “one step, three steps, seven steps ahead”… And the agents are on the run, trying to catch up, but their efforts are getting them nowhere right from the very beginning.
Helping them is Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who has decided to reveal all the tricks of the four magicians, while Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) is the rich guy that finances the Horsemen.
Other than the amazing cast participating in the movie, what puts film in a different level is the effects used. The cast did a great job on this one! Directed by Louis Leterrier (“Clash of the Titans,” “The Incredible Hulk”), the movie will blow your mind with the effects used in the magic tricks performed by the Horsemen. Also, the movie goes beyond the mystery, showing us action with Jack fighting Dylan and with a car crash on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. On the other hand, we get to see some romance between Dylan and his partner Alma, which adds flavor to the film.Lastly, there is a big final revelation, a huge surprise and quite a shock for the unsuspected audience! It really caught me out of the blue!
Even if this was a great film, no movie is ever perfect. The plot was a bit hard to follow, and I had to re-watch some parts that I didn’t quite get. And the logical explanations behind the magic weren’t the least bit believable. Even if that’s not so uncommon in this type of movies. However, the thing that really bothered me was that the movie focused so much on the plot that it completely ignored the characters. We don’t get an insight on their personalities, rather than just a touch on the surface. And the most complicated character of them all is kept simple till the very last second, when we see his (or hers no spoilers) true colors! Quite a waste, I would say, even if it adds to the element of surprise. On the other hand, one of them, Arthur, after he has played his part on the plot, simply disappears from the movie. So, the use of the movie characters is actually not good, but that is partially fixed with the finale.
So, the movie is definitely worth watching, even just for the effects. And the finale actually brings the movie in a whole new level, I totally loved it. A must-watch!
Score: 90%
Dafni Damianidou (dafnidamianidou@yahoo.com)
Courtesy
Summit Entertainment
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