Now You See Me 2 (2016)    Summit/Action-Comedy    RT: 129 minutes    Rated PG-13 (violence, some language)    Director: John M. Chu    Screenplay: Ed Solomon    Music: Brian Tyler    Cinematography: Peter Deming    Release date: June 10, 2016 (US)    Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Jay Chou, Sanaa Lathan, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman., David Warshofsky, Tsai Chin.    Box Office: $65.1M (US)/$334.9M (World)

Rating: ***

 The first time you see a magic trick, you’re impressed. The second time, you know it’s a trick. The same can be said of Now You See Me 2, an entertaining but predictable (and overplotted) sequel to the 2013 movie about a quartet of magicians “The Horsemen” pulling off a series of heists using their special sets of skills. Like Robin Hood, they steal from the rich and give to the poor. In this new movie, they once again target a rich fat-cat who plans to use his immense wealth to bully the world. From the get-go, we know their end game. They mean to expose his true nature to the public by way of an elaborate scheme involving magic, misdirection and sleight-of-hand. We don’t know how they do what they do (at least not until they explain) but we do know it’s all some kind of illusion. It’s still pretty fun to watch though.

 At the end of the first movie, we learn that everything they did was orchestrated by FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo, The Incredible Hulk) out of revenge for his magician father’s death. The ultimate target was magic debunker Thaddeus Bradley (Freeman, The Shawshank Redemption), the man who goaded his father into performing the trick that ultimately proved fatal. Now You See Me 2 begins with a flashback to the fateful night back in 1984. Why? As a means of showing that Rhodes still hasn’t gotten over this childhood trauma even though he got his ounce of flesh by framing Bradley for the heists and putting him in jail.

 Now You See Me 2 picks up about a year later with Rhodes still working- rather pretending to work- on the Horseman case. Nobody except his team- illusionist Danny Atlas (Eisenberg, Batman v Superman), hypnotist/mentalist Merritt McKinney (Harrelson, Natural Born Killers), card master Jack Wilder (Franco, 21 Jump Street) and a new member, geek trick specialist Lula (Caplan, The Night Before)- knows he’s the leader of the Horsemen. Oh, and Walter Mabry (Radcliffe, Harry Potter), the man responsible for blowing their latest gig, revealing the secret agenda of a cell phone magnate. It has something to do with a computer chip that allows the user access to ANY computer in the world. Without giving away the trick, the foursome somehow winds up in Macau where Walter tasks them with obtaining said chip for his own nefarious purposes.

 In blowing the gig, Walter also reveals Rhodes’ secret identity to the world, forcing him to go on the lam from his former colleagues led by Agent Natalie Austin (Lathan, Love & Basketball). Having lost track of his team (temporarily), Rhodes signs Bradley out of prison to help track them down. Also involved in the plot is old nemesis Arthur Tressler (Caine, The Dark Knight), the insurance guy they cleaned out in the first movie. He has a connection to another character that I won’t reveal here, but you’ll see it coming the second he makes his first appearance late in the game. Also involved is Merritt’s twin brother Chase (Harrelson doing double duty) looking to ruin his brother for some perceived slight. There’s enough plot here for two or three movies.

 The first half of Now You See Me 2 plays more like a Mission: Impossible movie, especially the sequence in which the Horseman manage to steal the chip from a heavily-guarded facility. Their plan involves the passing back and forth of a playing card. This bit of cleverness livens up what would otherwise be a standard kind of scene. The movie picks up in the second half when the Horsemen, with the help of Chinese magic store proprietors Li (Chou, The Green Hornet) and his grandmother (Chin), hie to London to beat Walter at his own game. That’s when the team starts putting their skills to work.

 I really enjoyed Now You See Me 2 but like most sequels it doesn’t measure up to the original. Like I said, you go in knowing not to believe everything you see. This, however, doesn’t make it less fun. The actors look like they’re having a ball with their witty Ocean’s Eleven banter. I love how Harrelson always commits to his characters regardless of how inherently ridiculous they are. Ruffalo is an affable presence as always. Radcliffe is surprisingly good as the sociopathic villain. Freeman always has a mischievous glint in his eyes; he’s loving this role. Caplan makes a nice addition to the cast; I just wish the romance between her and Franco’s character was better developed.

 The action set pieces are well executed. It’s a slick production. It just has a shaky first half and more plot than it needs. But I realize that precisely the point; what better way to misdirect the viewer than throwing a lot of plot threads. Misdirection is a common trick among magicians, why not movies featuring magicians? Now You See Me 2 may not be perfect but it’s still fun.