Review: "Now You See Me"

The belief in magic is, I imagine, looked down upon by many. If you're a child, the tricks performed by illusionists are puzzling, intriguing and entertaining. To be completely fooled as a kid is ok. Once you reach a certain age, it's assumed that you've matured a bit. You understand the truth about Santa, accept that Pro Wrestling is a show, and hopefully, appreciate magic on the showmanship level only.

In Now You See Me, a magician actually points out the foolishness of charging him with a particular crime. To do so would be admitting that magic is "real". Another character accepts that what she sees are just tricks, but enjoys the feeling she gets from them. She speaks of having a little faith in the unbelievable, and being a more tolerable person because of it. A professional trickster that calls you stupid for thinking what he does is real and an adult woman who just goes along with the tricks despite knowing that they're just tricks. What was it that Obi Wan Kenobi said about fools?

The crime I mentioned above was part of a Las Vegas stage performance. Calling themselves The Four Horsemen, these four (of course) showmen play out a trick where they transport a man to a European bank, and have him rob a safe. The FBI and Interpol investigate, but are always just a few steps behind this crew. Are they modern day Robin Hoods, or is there something more to their act?

Well, that something more is the trick (or twist) the movie has up its sleeve. A very short sleeve. I don't mean that the finale is easy and cheap but that the whole story is. The way the tricks unfold are implausible and kinda dumb for a popular magic act to achieve. They go to lengths like hypnotizing a man days in advance, switching out real money with flash paper and guessing that an entire audience were victims of an insurance company. Sure, I get it that the performances are just a cover for what they're "really" doing, but what they're "really" doing is "really" not clever. 

Jesse Eisenberg plays one of the Four Horsemen, in what I would call the best acting of the movie (the neurotic tendencies I would expect from him are swapped for confidence and flash). He regularly says that the closer you look, the easier it is to trick you. When a character is seemingly trapped in a car chase on a bridge, we see how the crew pulled off his escape. And it's something straight out of the Fast & Furious mentality. What worked in a movie that could care less about smarts, doesn't work in a movie that depends on you believing it's smart.

This must be similar to the problems people have with the new Star Trek movies. Every personality and theme from the original shows and films are heightened to almost extreme lengths. Whatever subtlety there used to be is gone. Nothing is subtle about Now You See Me, which would be ok (it IS a movie about flashy stage performers pulling off heists) if the tricks played out in and by the story hadn't been delivered in a Happy Meal. 

Now I remember; "Who's the more foolish, the fool, or the fool who follows him?" Fun razzle dazzle is fine and all, but only if you don't ask questions. When I was a kid, I hardly ever accepted something without being a little inquisitive. And you know what? I grew up to like movies ranging from the thoughtful to the silly. You CAN have fun while being mature. No need to be a Toys R Us kid forever.

2/5 *s

Review: "Fast & Furious 6"

Over on the official MovieBoozer Facebook page, a question was posed to readers: When does a film cross the line from stupid-fun to just plain stupid? This being the season for big and loud Hollywood blockbusters, it's a perfect time to provide an answer. So many sequels, so much potential money to be made, so much money to burn - and so many fine examples.

What is a "plain stupid" movie? There are many components that are considered; plot, logic, character behavior, etc. But, for me, none of those necessarily equal "plain stupid" by themselves or even together. Movies like The Room and Birdemic may be incompetent technically, and laughter usually ensues from this, but they remain fun to watch. Why? Aside from laughing at the incorrect skills and unusual moments of the film, there is sometimes a genuine effort going on that shines through the screen. Sure, the cast and crew were over their heads, but they at least tried. That's admirable.

"Plain stupid", for me, is when there is no joy or redeemable quality to be had from a film. No effort to attempt to elevate the material from stupid to fun, just a paycheck and a job to do.

The Fast and the Furious franchise didn't start on the right side of the line, but it eventually crossed over.


Fast & Furious 6 finds the team in exile from their last job. But they are soon brought back into action when they are offered a new job - working for Interpol to capture a high level criminal, who has ties to an old friend of theirs. Cars crash, bodies fly and explosions explode. Nothing else matters.

Seriously.

Justin Lin took over the series with Tokyo Drift, and has done every movie since. While I have not seen those movies, there must be a reason as to why he was given the director's chair all those times. In watching 6, I understood. Lin understands how to present stupid without being stupid. In other words, he is capable of elevating the material given, without alienating the target audience. A perfect director, actually.

Now, don't get me wrong; this is a dumb movie. There are moments when the logic within the story is broken, and characters don't notice. Like when the team is hired. They are brought to a makeshift headquarters to take down this international criminal because, I assume, Interpol has tried and failed too many times. Then, in the next scene, the team is watching as Interpol performs a raid on the bad guys location. If you were going to do a raid with a freaking army, WHY DID YOU NEED TO HIRE THIS SMALL TEAM?

But there were two deeper points being made at that moment: 1. It was to establish the cunning and dangerous nature of the bad guy and 2. The logic doesn't matter. In the scene after, we get a roughly ten minute car chase, featuring multiple crashes. The cinematography and editing was spot on, making me understand and feel what was at stake for the characters, without the premise of the situation even making much sense. Impressive. If the action is done well, you'll be saying "Awesome!" instead of "Boo!"

Lin also understands that we need to care, at least a little, about the characters and what they are going through. Without that, why should we invest in the action? Vin Diesel has a wonderful nighttime stand off with the villain. Both men banter about family, honor and code in a very tense manner. There eyes rarely unlock from one another. If you know nothing about the previous Lin Furious films, you'll learn all you need from that one scene. And, for something big and dumb, all we need is that one scene.

"Stupid-fun", for me, is dumb material that is understood and elevated by the people involved. They are not stupid and are putting in all the effort they can. Out of that, can be something worth eating popcorn to. And don't be embarrassed about joining others on that side of the line - there's plenty of room.

3/5 *s