Abracadabra

Well, they finally figured out how to title a sequel: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025). Except this coming after Now You See Me 2 kind of spoils the effect. 

This one starts with an underground Four Horsemen magic show in a warehouse. The four magicians bring a volunteer on stage, and then merge into his body, performing their tricks thriugh him. The big trick is to steal the phone of an asshole crypto-bro and distribute his account to everyone at the show.

After the show, the volunteer and two other young people are walking home. You see, the Horsemen were just deep-fake projections, the volunteer (Dominic Sessa) was an impressionist, the girl (Ariana Greenblatt) was an audience member who pickpocketed the phone, and Justice Smith was the hacker and behind the scene guy. We learn a lot of this because Horsemen ringleader Jesse Eisenberg shows up. He has a mission from the Eye, the shadowy magician crime-fighting organization. It is to take down diamond dealer Rosamund Pike. The rest of the crew won't be available - for reasons. Probably because Eisenberg is a dick.

Pike, with a fulsome South African accent, is the owner of the top diamond mines in the world. She keeps her prices high by converting dirty money from arms dealers and despots into clean gems. She owns the world's largest diamond, and displays it at a party. And of course, Eisenberg and the new kids steal it. And they get away because the other Horsemen show up: Jess Franco, Woody Harrelson, and Isla Fisher. 

So what next? A coded message directs them to a magic-themed mansion, where they meet Morgan Freeman, and search for clues. But the police show up, and half the group is captured. 

It goes on like this for a while, with puzzles, tricks, cold-reading and peril. It ends (SPOILER) with all the Horsemen (including Lizzie Caplan, who was replaced by Isla Fisher in the second movie) and the three new guys together, all back in the eye and ready for another adventure.

Will there actually be another adventure? Now You See Me: Now You Don't: 2? This entry was a bit tired, and maybe didn't hold together as well as the first two. I liked the new guys, but not sure if we really need eight Horsemen. The personal relationships didn't seem to be very strong. And the twists and tricks seemed a little weaker, although the finale was pretty sweet. 

We'll see. I'll probably watch it if it comes out.