Now You See Me (2013)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Audio Commentary Featurette-Making Of Deleted Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	110:37
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (77:10)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Louis Leterrier
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Jesse Eisenberg Woody Harrelson Isla Fisher Morgan Freeman Michael Caine Mark Ruffalo
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I like the concept of this film, magicians banding together to pull off a variety of heists and was keen to see it because of that. It also features a good cast of a mixture of up and coming actors and old hands. Accordingly, I sat down with some interest to review this DVD release of the film. This film did very well at the box office, pulling in $350m in ticket sales. Naturally, a sequel is in the works.

    Four magicians receive strange invitations to meet at a certain place and time, intrigued they go along not knowing what to expect. They are young illusionist, J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), his former assistant, now escapologist in her own show, Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), sleight of hand expert/hustler, Jack Wilder (Dave Franco, younger brother of James) and washed up mentalist, Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson). In the apartment where they are told to meet they find a lot of information and what amounts to an invitation to band together and put on a series of events over the following year. They do not know who is behind this information and instructions but decide to go ahead with little hesitation. Somehow (which is unexplained) they end up been bankrolled by a businessman, Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) who funds them putting on three big shows in Las Vegas, New Orleans and New York. During the first show in Las Vegas they stage a complex stunt or heist (you need to wonder which), in which money is stolen from a Paris Bank and given to the show's audience. This gets the attention of the FBI and Interpol resulting in the partnering up of FBI agent, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent, Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent) to try and sort out what the hell is going on. They are assisted (or are they?) by magician debunker, Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman). Who is behind the creation of this team of magicians known as The Four Horseman and what are they trying to achieve?

    This high concept film has some interesting ideas, impressive visuals and some good acting by the quality cast, however, this does not make up for the fact that the film focuses of flash rather than storytelling. The director Louis Letterier and the writers have created an interesting concept which should have made for a thrilling and intriguing film but unfortunately is more confusing than intriguing. The deleted scenes on the disc would have made for a better film if left in and I note that there is an extended cut of this film available on Blu-ray which might be worth a look. There are too many plot holes and contrivances and the audience does not connect to the four main characters. This is not a bad film and is entertaining enough for its running time but the feeling you are left with is one of disappointment, that a good concept did not have more achieved with it. The ending is quite good and not too obvious, but it not really very well explained.

    Hard to recommend without some reservations.

Video

    The feature is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

    The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout without being really crisp.

    The colour is quite good but there was some light colour bleeding at times and some chroma noise in some scenes.

    There was some mild aliasing and motion blur at times.

    There are English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles available which are clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This disc contains a English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.

    Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand.

    The music was quite good but not outstanding.

    The surround speakers were used for the big show scenes and atmosphere without setting the world on fire.

    The subwoofer was mostly used to support the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu featured music.

Commentary - Producer Bobby Cohen & Director Louis Letterier

Now You See Me Revealed (14:59)

Deleted Scenes 

    As far as I can tell the Region 1 release is the same. Buy Local

    The video quality is good but has some flaws.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall