Year: 2013
Genre: Drama
Director: Steven Knight
Plot: A former Special Forces soldier, now a drunk living on the streets, haunted by his war crimes, gets a new lease on life after breaking into another man's flat. Using the man's money, he gets a job and tries to rebuild his life, and at the same time avenge the death of a girl he knew, while maintaining his friendship with a kind nun.
The gist: Imdb lists action in this film's genre, but I disagree. It's mostly a drama, starring Jason Statham in an unlikely role.
Statham proves here that he has acting chops to go with his ass kicking skills, and though he gets to beat a few people up here, it's his acting ability as a former soldier trying to go straight that gets more focus.
Steven Knight, who wrote the screenplay and directs, does a decent job keeping the film flowing for the most part. His focus on London street life after hours is fascinating and dark at the same time. He also makes good use of his two main leads, Statham and Agata Buzek, who plays the nun Cristina. Their relationship, which gets more complicated as the story moves along, is the heart of this film.
However, I do feel that this story would work better as a miniseries, so that Knight can explore his story even further and give more time to other supporting characters like the dead girl Statham tries to avenge, or the Chinese human trafficker played by Benedict Wong, or Statham's ex-wife and daughter.
The good: Believe it or not, Statham is pretty good here, and so is Agata Buzek. They make a great duo on screen. The story is also well written overall.
The bad: Too little time spent on the story and supporting characters. The ending is a bit of a letdown, though it does tie up most of the loose ends. The film could also use a bit more tension overall.
Verdict: A decent effort for a drama starring action star Jason Statham. Just try this with an open mind and don't expect an action flick. (3/5)
Year: 2013
Genre: Heist thriller
Director: Loius Leterrier
Plot: Four David Blaine wannabes execute a series of heists while being pursued by a determined FBI agent.
The gist: Have you ever seen a heist movie where the thieves don't succeed? No? Well, me neither. Now You See Me does not change that unfortunately.
Did I just give away the ending? No, there are still a few twists here and there. I only wish it were interesting enough to make this film worth watching.
So we have four street magicians who each can do what David Blaine does so well (and better I might add) being recruited by a mysterious person to carry out high stakes robberies. A no-nonsense FBI agent teams up with an Interpol agent to catch them with the help of a magic debunker.
The problem here is most of the characters are either poorly written or not likable enough, with only Woody Harrelson's mentalist and Mark Ruffalo's FBI agent standing out. Louis Leterrier films the whole thing at such breakneck speed, the audience doesn't even get to enjoy or fathom completely what's going on before he moves to the next point, and the next, and so forth.
The twist itself is weak and overall makes little sense to what we just saw beforehand, at least for me it was.
The good: As mentioned, Ruffalo and Harrelson stand out. There's a decent car chase scene in the middle portion of the film. Melanie Laurent is all right as the Interpol agent but isn't given much to work with.
The bad: Jesse Eisenberg plays the Mark Zuckerberg version of David Blaine. Boring. Isla Fisher and Dave Franco are wasted. Michael Caine was wasted even more. Morgan Freeman was given a role much lower than what he's capable of. Someone a little younger would have been more suitable. And as above, the too quick pace, the lame twist, poor characters etc.
Verdict: Now You See Me trips over itself trying to be smart, and doesn't really offer anything new when it comes to heist films. Any excitement it generated vanished faster than the money the Blaine copycats stole. Skip this. (2.5/5)
