Now You See Me 2 (2016)

We weren't expecting much and were pleasantly surprised by the high production values and a bit of flash in this sequel to the 2013 magician caper, where almost all of the original cast returns and travels the world. Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco haven't been in anything else I've written about since the first Now You See Me. Jesse Eisenberg was in The End of the Tour, Mark Ruffalo was Oscar-nominated for Spotlight, Morgan Freeman was in Lucy, and Michael Caine was in Youth. Added this time are Lizzy Caplan (last blogged in 127 Hours before starring in three seasons of Masters of Sex) and Daniel Radcliffe (most recently in The Brothers Grimsby). Eisenberg in particular phones in his performance, while Caplan is pretty funny. We saw it over two weeks ago when bad weather was predicted on one of our vacation days, but the rain (and hail!) held off until we were outside, walking back to our hotel.

Director Jon M. Chu (new to me) takes up the helm this time with a screenplay by Ed Solomon (profiled in Now You See Me) and a story by Solomon & Peter Chiarelli (wrote The Proposal).

Composer Brian Tyler (last scored Truth) returns with an appropriate score which can be streamed in its entirety from this link. I'm enjoying it as I write.

Comedian John Oliver hated this movie. “‘What am I doing here? What’s the point?'” Oliver said,  in a story about doping. “She’s a world class athlete, and she was left feeling like anyone who paid for a ticket to Now You See Me 2.” Rotten Tomatoes' critics agree, averaging 34%, while its audiences are coming in at 63. It's still playing all over the country and seventh at the box office last weekend. That said, no need to rush to see it.

Milestone alert: This is the 850th movie I have seen since beginning the blog September 3, 2008. The complete alphabetized list is here and can be found at the right side of any page on the blog.