I have a penchant for completing cinematic series.  If I have seen one of their number, it will stick in the back of my mind until I have seen them all.  You can call this tendency of mine whatever you like, but I see little reason to leave such things unfinished.  It is sort of like reading only part of a book.  My Faith has also influenced me in this regard.  Though I do not like to tell others how to be a Christian, one either follows the teachings of the Church completely, or you are something other than Catholic.  At the same time, I am often puzzled by the movies that become part of a broader anthology.  Some of them I wish they would stop making, like Scream.  Others are a little more palatable, like what is now the trilogy that is Now You See Me.  Yet, the weekend the third, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025), premiered, I opted for The Running Man (2025).  Interestingly enough, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t did better at the box office, and that is the piece I am discussing today.

There is much discussion among an audience gathered at the beginning of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t because they are expecting to see a rare performance by The Horsemen.  They are a group of four magicians (or five, depending how you look at the previous movies) known for their anti-capitalist tricks that often make their followers a little richer.  Amongst the crowd is a brash tech bro who had stolen millions from the citizens of New York through a bogus crypto scam.  By filching his phone, they are able to unlock his riches and redistribute the money to those present.  As everyone scatters, we find out that it is not our familiar tricksters, but three young copycats named Bosco (Dominic Sessa), Charlie (Justice Smith), and June (Ariana Greenblatt).  They make their way to their hidden apartment, satisfied with their success, when they are surprised by J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg).  He is one of the real Horsemen, and he has come to them because the mysterious magician organization called “The Eye” has sent him to them.  As always happens with these films, there is a wealthy person with ill gotten gains.  That person is South African diamond tycoon Veronika Vanderburg (Rosamund Pike).  Though she claims to do everything above the board, when she meets with her advisors, we find out that she is heavily involved in money laundering.  Still, even she can be threatened, as when she receives a mysterious phone call demanding that she give up the famous “Heart Diamond,” a priceless gem of incredible size, or have her dirty secrets uncovered.  It is to Antwerp, Belgium, that she takes the uncut rock, where she is hosting a private party.  That is also where Atlas and the other three go, hatching a plan to take it from her in front of the revelers.  As they do so, we learn that the other Horseman, namely Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), are also there, having been summoned by The Eye without Atlas’ knowledge.  Nonetheless, they get away with the diamond and try to figure out what to do next.  While in a temporary hideout, it is Charlie who figures out that the four Horsemen’s cards form a picture of a French chateaux.  It turns out to be the home of a deceased French magician who had helped defeat the Nazis during World War II.  Waiting for them is their sometime mentor, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who is also the grandmaster of The Eye.  He has brought them together to have them solve the riddle of the house, which will provide clues as to how to take on Veronika.  Before they can get much further in their scheming, the French police raid the building and take Charlie, Jack, and June into custody.  A brief argument breaks out amongst those who escaped, but then they have the idea of calling upon that extra Horseman, Lula May (Lizzy Caplan), who effects the jailbreak.  Unfortunately, Merritt does not make it out and remains in Veronika’s possession.  Yet again, though, Charlie determines where they should go next, which is Abu Dhabi, where Veronika’s diamond company is sponsoring a car in an upcoming race.  It is also the place where the as yet unrevealed caller has told her to go, wanting to eventually meet in the vault where the diamond is kept.  For Atlas, the plan is simple: exchange the gem for Merritt.  The other three are to provide a distraction prior to The Horsemen’s planned magic show.  Atlas and the original members of the team make the exchange with Veronika, but then are double crossed when she drops them in a vault.  Her aim is to kill them by filling the chamber with sand and make it look like a magic accident.  Meanwhile, Bosco leads the local police on a chase with the car while Veronika is transported to her underground safe in the desert.  Taking a gun into the chamber from a security guard, she comes face-to-face with her tormentor.  It turns out to be Charlie, her little-known brother, who she thought had died as a child in a car crash.  When she tries to shoot him, she is stunned when nothing happens.  This is because the whole thing is a set-up to reveal the truth about Charlie, to display her committing a crime, and expose her corruption.  In fact, even the first Horsemen did not know it is happening until they are also on stage, having once more cheated death.  With that, they return to New York City celebrating their success but about to go their separate ways when they get a strange package.  It turns out to be a holographic communication from the Horsemen’s leader, Dylan Shrike (Mark Ruffalo), telling them their mission is not over.

I did not think Now You See Me: Now You Don’t was bad, but I do hope this series is over despite what Dylan says at the end.  Part of my reason for wanting a conclusion is how hard these films are to describe.  It is not simply the tricks, though they are convoluted.  It is the ensemble cast that makes it hard.  By the way, in case you are wondering, Thaddeus is shot and killed by the French police while covering the others’ escape.  It is because of that scene, which typifies the middle of the film, that gives it a Scooby Doo-esque quality.  We know what is going to happen, and that it is going to involve some razzle-dazzle, we just have to sit through the rest to get to it.  What I appreciate better is their sense of camaraderie and justice.  This is kind of strange for a practicing Catholic to say because the Church is wholly against magic, and has been so for centuries.  However, what you see in the film is not soothsaying and conjuring, but sleight of hand.  Indeed, the title kind of says it all.  Further, I would suggest to these characters, if they were real, that there is another way of going about remuneration.  After all, two wrongs do not make a right.  Put differently, Robin Hood stealing from the rich and giving it to the poor does not justify theft.  Too often, modern society has a populist way of going about settling scores, which explains a lot about the state of modern American politics.  The people in power tell us that some injustice has been done, and instead of going through the proper channels and investigating the claims, we elect somebody who is simply going to “get them,” no matter who “they” are or what laws stand in their way.  One of the things I take away from Faith is the fact that there is ultimate justice in the form of God’s judgement.  To that end, I find interesting that our current president is on record saying that he does not know if he is going to Heaven, but I digress.  At any rate, while it is flashy to bring down a corrupt businessman and/or politician as The Horsemen do, it is better to utilize more legal means.

Does this mean I do not recommend Now You See Me: Now You Don’t?  Not necessarily.  It is not a strong feeling, whatever it is I think.  Indeed, I found my attention wandering while watching to other distractions.  Hence, we will call this one a “meh.”