Now You See Me

"I knew Now You See Me and I weren't going to get along early on, when Isla Fisher's character throws a sheet on top of something as part of a magic routine, and the sheet is obviously CGI, all crazy pirouettes and whirls. It struck me as somewhat ironic that a movie ostensibly about sleight of hand and trickery opted for something so clearly fake over something subtle but convincing. There is plenty of CGI throughout Now You See Me, and it's mostly employed to keep you from thinking too much about the absurd plot."

"Thanks to some accomplished hocus pocus and an appealing cast, this would-be “Ocean’s Eleven” of the magic world remains watchable throughout, even as it plods along without ever quite fulfilling its potential."

"Ocean’s Eleven meets The Prestige? Not quite. Starts well, ends in a heap, but in between there’s just enough splash and flash to distract from the lack of substance"

"When Mark Ruffalo shows up as a crumpled detective, you expect a dose of reality, yet on his heels come twin hams Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, whose solemn presences (as Christopher Nolan knows well) prove wonderful distractions from silliness."

"The scatterbrained story loses its thread and becomes a dull, frenetic chase movie ..."

"Overcooked, overcomplicated and underinteresting, this heist caper turns into a mess."

"Audiences go to magic shows to get fooled, but that doesn't mean they want to leave feeling cheated."

"A film which proves the theory that if magicians were also bankrobbers, they'd still be pretty stupid."

"A superficially diverting but substance-free concoction, a would-be thriller as evanescent as a magic trick and one that develops no suspense or rooting interest because the characters possess all the substance of invisible ink."

"Magicians as criminals is a marvellous conceit and Louis Leterrier gets a great deal of entertainment out of it, but it can’t disguise a weak end with smoke and mirrors."