Now You See Me (the not-so-subtle marketing trick of a title)

Magicians robbing banks. Magicians using their super dorky non-existent powers to rob banks. Plus, Jesse Eisenberg. I mean, I was sold on this from the time I read a similar summary of the movie months ago. Then came the trailer (which I posted about here), where Mr. Eisenberg got to be a wise-ass and somehow find a way to be incredibly arrogant about his mad skills with magic. It seemed like the most enjoyable two hours I would spend in the theater this summer.

But, apparently, those marketers were playing me as only the most talented of illusionists can. They said, "Look! It's Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson! It's going to be just like Zombieland! You can practically take a bath in all the snark and sarcasm that will happen in this movie." They waved that all in my face in the trailer, and then *POOF*, as if by some sick trick, the movie was all about whiny Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo plays the cop, FBI agent (whatever, don't even care), who is trying to figure out how the merry band of magicians have pulled off a bank robbery. And it's SO DIFFICULT for him. He's just REALLY struggling. And that's boring. (Do you even see Mark Ruffalo on the poster? I don't! Unless he's magically invisible!)

While there are some scenes of fun between Eisenberg, Harrelson, Fisher, and Franco (Dave Franco that is. The smallest of the famous Francos). I needed more. Like a lot more. Like a scene where they all try and figure out what Chinese food to order kind of more. I wanted bromance and romance and wit, and they gave me MARK RUFFALO.

To be fair, it's still a fun movie. There's an interesting structure (there are three heists this gang has to pull off), entertaining tricks of the trade to learn, and tons of characters (including Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine) to enjoy watching. So, if you're super pumped for this movie, you'll probably be disappointed. But, if you're just a normal person with normal person expectations (someone told me you exist), then you'll probably have a pretty good time.

Another fun thing the movie did was The Diamond Heist Challenge. You get to look for hidden playing cards on posters and website etc. in order to get extra content like the stars teaching you how to do magic tricks. I had some issues with the app, Blippar, but overall still fun.