FILM REVIEW: NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (12A)

While this lacks the more accessible bright and breezy nature of the original – a fantastic mid-movie card trick set piece and an intelligent finale almost makes it worth the admission price alone.

A year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, The Four Horsemen – Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) and newcomer Lula (Lizzy Caplan), who’s replaced the AWOL Henley – resurface for a comeback performance to expose the unethical practices of a tech prodigy, which leads to Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe’s Walter Mabry becoming the villain of the piece.

Sadly this comes together in the form of a unnecessarily elongated and overly complex plot – leading to a quite tepid first half hour or so – which takes the horseman to the ‘Las Vegas of China’ Macau, to be blackmailed into stealing a computer network controlling data card after Merritt’s dastardly buck-toothed twin brother Chase (Harrelson again) teams up with Mabry.

Unfortunately the twin brother thing doesn’t work, and Chase ends up being the most annoying thing in the movie by a country mile.

In the meantime, Ruffalo’s horseman leader Dylan Rhodes tries to stay one step ahead of Sanaa Lathan’s (Alien v Predator) FBI deputy director – and begrudgingly teams up with ex-nemesis Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) in an attempt to save the horsemen, as the movie slowly improves throughout the duration.

It also has some magic tricks going for it in the form of newbie Caplan – who brings an enigmatic slice of ‘crazy, sexy, cool’ to proceedings – and more screen time for the likeable presence of Franco, and nicely ties up some loose ends from the first film.

But this sequel is ultimately what Ocean’s Twelve was to Ocean’s Eleven – and it’s just about saved with two ‘aces’ up its sleeves.

Gavin Miller [youtube id=”JzZh8kJJwe4″ width=”600″ height=”350″]

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Woody Harrelson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Sanaa Lathan, Jay Chou, David Warshofsky, Richard Laing & Tsai Chin

Running Time: 2 Hrs 9 Mins

Director: Jon M ChuVisit www.showcasecinemas.co.uk for the latest up-to-date showtimes for movies at Peterborough Showcase. You can also join the chat on Twitter @showcasecinemas or on Facebook by searching for ‘Showcase Cinemas UK’.