Film Review - NOW YOU SEE ME ★★½☆☆☆

Sleight of hand, misdirection, analyzing body language, and staying two steps ahead of the audience, these are the tricks of the trade that have allowed magicians to wow and befuddle audiences with their illusions for decades. Now You See Me manages to use these methods to keep us guessing as a serviceable big screen crime caper, but as a magical work of wonder, overall the magic falls fairly short.

The film's rousing prologue introduces us to four performers who are brought together to become an internationally famous magic act known as The Four Horsemen. We have a fast talking street trickster Danny (Jesse Eisenberg), the mentalist Merritt (Woody Harrelson), pickpocket Jack (Dave Franco), and the lovely escape artist Henley (Isla Fisher). Fast forward a year later, the Horsemen have a millionaire benefactor Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine) who funds their lavish hi-tech Vegas stage act and are on the radar of a former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), who makes millions from online videos by breaking the illusionists' bro code and debunking the stage acts of other performers.

The Horsemen conclude their shows with an elaborate literal bank robbery where worthy audience members see their checking accounts swell by tens of thousands of dollars. So the stage is set and it brings them under the eye of the FBI led by Agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Parisian INTERPOL Agent Alma Dray (Melanie Laurent). The foursome have more high stakes heists up their sleeves in their next two performances in New Orleans and Queens, New York, which leads to their cat and mouse pursuit from interantional authorities.

Our magicians repeatedly outwit, outsmart and outpace the feds, managing to make them look like buffoons on a keystone cops level, and it keeps the tone from getting into dark territory. The film tries its hand at throwing as many twists and turns in the plot that should keep the audience guessing, but offers little opportunity to figure any of it out by adhering to a "with magic, anything can happen" playbook. Our heroes, who have taken on a Robin Hood-worthy take from the rich and give to the poor crusade, are allowed to pull the rug from under us in a grounded setting with feats of magic that break real world logistics. This tends to blur the line on the flip flop nature Now You See Me treats the art in the same vein if you prefer either the title Magician or Illusionist, which imply different things.

In the true high bar set by The Prestige, the characters stay steps ahead of both the audience and each other. Upon repeated viewing, you actually catch clues brilliantly laid out before you and had not noticed before. Now You See Me attempts no such bold depth, and relies on little subtlety instead using broader strokes to reveal its secrets in flat out flashbacks.

To keep us happy, the curtain is pulled back several times and we do get to see how some tricks are executed. That's fine and its also crucial to the plot, but when written off under the cloak of magical powers, we are assaulted with characters performing numerous physically impossible feats that defy physics. Also in revealing how some of their escapist illusions are actually pulled off, the insane necessary resources readily available to them makes you take pause for plausibility.

A true highlight is an inspired sequence in an apartment where Franco's Jack has a drag out test of wits opportunity to escape an FBI raid. He literally dazzles and battles the agents with practical magic. Its an all too brief glimpse of the film's real world potential when most of the showy illusions utilized are so outlandish they shatter any hope for sustained suspension of disbelief. But watching quick thinking, ingenuity and magician's tools take on the feds in hand to hand combat is where the film hits its target.

Director Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans) breaks into several sudden well staged action packed chase sequences (and he's damn good at it), but they come as fast as they go and tend to come off as gratuitous ploys to amp up the action for what feels should be a thinker's paced film.

The film is blessed with a superb cast, each one bringing enough to the table in this ensemble cast. But as a far as our four lead magicians are concerned, beyond some witter banter there is little connect or perceived camaraderie between them beyond their broad projected on-stage relationship. They have been a team for over a year, and there is scant chemistry and at the end of the day, it seems they all still distrust each other. Even when one of them is taken out of action, the remaining three show no remorse in the loss. Whether it should be presented on screen as justified misdirection to the audience or not, it doesn't make the team appear to be the close knit group you should be rooting for. Ruffalo has a good time with his role here, and it shows on screen. Academy Award winners Freeman and Caine provide nothing less than the solid backbone you would expect from them.

The story itself is straightforward but multi-layered and moves along with a brisk pace that you have to keep up with. Leterrier keeps the camera moving and circling about constantly and allows you little time to over think at any time. There are very few moments when things slow down and it by no means lacks visual flare or flashy special effects. But the sometimes lavish CGI takes away from grounding the magic in a real world setting, which the film finds a hard time defining. By the time the credits roll and the plot points are all out of the sorting hat, you definitely feel its take on the magical line has been blurred completely.

Despite being a lively well cast heist film, there is not much of a magic show in terms of sheer wonderment. Now You See Me is a harmless lighthearted romp that supplies ample action, twists and turns, and will keep you ultimately guessing on where its all leading to. I am probably most guilty of the fatal error of having my hopes up too high based on the film's intriguing first trailer below, but that is the effective magic of early marketing at work.

Now You See Me opens in theaters on May 31st.

REVIEW RATING: ★★½☆☆☆
Director: Louis Letterier
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Melanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman
Screenwriters: Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, Edward Ricourt
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 116 minutes

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Film Review - THE DARK KNIGHT RISES ★★★★☆

Christopher Nolan set a new standard for the comic book movie genre with 2008's The Dark Knight, which had more in common with multi layered gritty crime dramas like Heat and even The Godfather than any of the take your pick of the typical superheroes versus villains tearing up the scenery in colorful costumes movie fare. The middle chapter in Nolan's trilogy boasted a posthumous Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for Heath Ledger's game changing portrayal of the Joker, and also prompted the Oscars to expand the Best Picture category to ten candidates when The Dark Knight was snubbed (robbed) of a nomination. Plus let's not forget that beyond adoration from critics and fans alike, the film happened to gross over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.

Cut to 2012 and we at long last have The Dark Knight Rises, the highly touted and anticipated conclusion of Nolan's Batman trilogy with Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader. Expectations are beyond the roof and it's no spoiler that both the director and star are firm on hanging up the cape and cowl for good after this film. Nolan has only the high bar he set himself to equal if not exceed with this grand finale. A bar perhaps impossibly high based on the success of The Dark Knight on so many levels.

As much as I would enjoy rambling on and on in explicit detail about the film, this is actually a tough review to put to paper so to speak in trying to maintain a predominantly spoiler free forum regarding as many of the critical plot points as possible. Or at least the ones that have yet to be overtly revealed in the trailers and television spots.

"Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up." Words from Thomas Wayne to his young son Bruce in Batman Begins that deeply resonate with him as an adult and into The Dark Knight Rises.

The story picks up eight years following the climactic events of 2008's The Dark Knight, Batman has disappeared, last seen as a wanted vigilante (having taken the fall for the murder of District Attorney Harvey Dent), Bruce Wayne is a cane dependent limping recluse taking refuge in his rebuilt mansion, and Gotham City is enjoying a period of near crime free prosperity thanks to the harsher laws enforced by the Dent Act.

But there would be no movie if new evil blood didn't rear its ugly head to take Gotham by storm, and that blood would be Bane, played with brutal authority by Tom Hardy. Bane on the big screen is a mysterious muscle bound masked terrorist whose intricate grand plan to bring Gotham City to its knees lures the Batman out of his self imposed exile, regardless whether or not the Caped Crusader is actually prepared for what his new adversary has up his sleeve (although truthfully he is mostly seen sleeveless).

Even with half of his face hidden, Hardy provides a powerful menacing presence as the soulless Bane, who out muscles, out thinks, and effortlessly hands the Dark Knight his ass in their brutal first one-on-one encounter. Bane is a juggernaut out to break the bat, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Without revealing too much more on the details of his overall scheme for Gotham, in addition to physical and psychological intimidation, Bane's motives manage to play on both the present day fears of post-9/11 terrorism and good old fashioned nuclear destruction.

For us fans familiar with the comic book lore, the film remains surprisingly faithful to numerous aspects of Bane's origins with heavy nods to the iconic storyline the villain is best known for. But he is adjusted accordingly to fit into the existing cinematic continuity established by Nolan and his screenwriters. There will be purists who will cry fowl over some specific changes made, but what we have here is a comic book villain who is adapted to work in a real world setting, or at least Nolan's big screen real world, so to speak.

Also added into the mix is the cat suit clad jewelry thief played Anne Hathaway, who brings a tech sleuth take to Selina Kyle. She gives it her all as a burglar in black who is all at once sexy, seductive, deadly, and unpredictable while also able to flawlessly pull off her own Keyser Soze moment to escape a bad situation. Hathaway easily puts her own mark on the iconic Catwoman character, even if she is never actually called that in the film.

In his third turn in the role, Bale gives his best performance in the dual role, and even takes to toning down the growling of his dialogue under the cowl as well. He is given a lot to do in this film, as one cannot rise without first falling. Bruce Wayne's journey here is epic and is the centerpiece of the generous near two hour and forty five minute running time. But interestingly enough, Batman himself probably has the least amount of screen time in this film than the previous entries.

Bale adds even more layers to the troubled Bruce Wayne. The billionaire is a shattered shadow of his former self and by prematurely, if not arrogantly jumping back into the game, he suffers a brutal and decisive defeat at the hands of Bane.

Scenes between Bale and Michael Caine as Alfred are both powerful and heartbreaking, and a testament to the deep relationship between these two characters. Alfred has always provided the true heart and voice of reason as the surrogate guardian and father figure to Bruce Wayne, and here he easily anchors the most emotional moments in the film.

The supporting cast step up their familiar roles as well and are given enough time to shine as integral parts of the intricate plot. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, and newcomers Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective John Blake who maintains faith in the tarnished faded legend of Batman, and Marion Coutillard as Miranda Tate, who each offer their own contribution to the overall thrust of the thick story. Where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part Two rushed too quickly in saying goodbye to well loved characters you had gotten to know over the course of the series, The Dark Knight Rises leaves little left unturned for all players involved, whether they be old, new, or making welcome re-appearances.

What resonated with me was the amount of subtle restraint Nolan exudes in the film, which separates TDKR from typical big summer movies that thrive on how many cuts you can edit into any given sequence, how big the explosions are, or the amount of flashy effects your silicon valley CGI army can cram into any given frame.

In order to isolate Gotham and cut it off from possible outside rescue, Bane blows up all the city's bridges. Nolan doesn't cut to 95 different massive pyro shots as multiple bridges crumble into the water, but rather effectively sticks to wide ariel shots sans any elaborate sound design, and you are left to observe the mass destruction in its entirety from afar.

Many times instead of throwing it all in your face, elements are established and then are moved along on their merry way. Nolan often feels no need for gratuitous showcases of special effects or fight skills. You see Selina Kyle display agility and smarts in many quick instances, but you will find no ten minute Catwoman tour de force action scene just to remind us how hard Anne Hathaway trained for the role. Bane is extremely powerful, but the extent of his true strength is not revealed when you would most expect it, but instead almost in a blink and you'll miss it moment. For this reason it's an unfair comparison to place TDKR side by side with this summer's other big comic book movie, The Avengers, simply because their worlds and the approach to these films could not be more different. While Joss Whedon successfully delivered countless cheer worthy fan boy dream moments on the big screen, Nolan finds little need to over showcase anything for the sake of the over showcase.

That said, let's switch gears and get down to the IMAX...

72 minutes of the The Dark Knight Rises was shot in native IMAX. Movies shot in the standard 35mm are often blown up to IMAX proportions in post production, but narrative films are rarely shot to this extent. The format is not ideal for an entire feature not only due to the camera's cumbersome size and weight, but it operates with a loud noise that makes recording clean dialogue on the set difficult, if not impossible at times.

Nevertheless, Nolan chooses his scenes wisely and is met with impressive, if not spectacular results. I saw the film in full IMAX in NYC and was completely engulfed by the elaborate action scenes and numerous stunning establishing aerial tracking shots as it flipped back and forth from 70mm to 35mm (the IMAX image is 40% larger and far more detailed). It takes some getting used to at first between the alternating aspect ratios and picture resolution, but the overall scope and grandeur of some of the chase sequences featuring the Bat-Pod, The Bat taking to the air, and the thrilling Bane intro sequence that was previewed in theaters with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol last December, are visually jaw dropping as narrative films are rarely given this epic treatment. You will be doing yourself a huge disservice by not seeing it in IMAX.

The Dark Knight Rises will be dissected, over analyzed, under appreciated, over appreciated, lauded, dismissed, as well as relentlessly discussed and debated for years to come. It will also thankfully get our minds off of bitching about Prometheus for the time being. But like most Nolan films, repeated viewing is a must and will add fuel to the fires of conversation. And best of luck to the noble team who gets the thankless task of following this for the inevitable reboot of the franchise.

In pacing and narrative, it falls in between the two previous installments, but unequivocally brings the trilogy full circle in brilliant and unexpected ways, especially when it focuses on bringing closure to the story. If you haven't seen Batman Begins in a while, a revisit might not be a bad idea just to be on the up and up regarding some details.

But as the closing chapter, I found TDKR to be a fitting, satisfying, and yes, spectacular ending for these characters' journey. While there are several plot bumps and logistical aspects well worth questioning, as well as some script decisions nitpickers and purists will likely target, but I can without reservation say that there are moments in the film that could be described as overall triumphs in cinematic storytelling. The Dark Knight Rises is your must not miss film of the year and will easily be one watch come Oscar time.

The Dark Knight Rises opens on July 20th in theaters and IMAX.

REVIEW RATING:  ★★★★☆
IMAX REVIEW RATING: ★★★★½☆
Directed By: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 144 minutes

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