Now You See Me 2

Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Lizzy Caplan, Tsai Chin, Sanaa Lathan, Jay Chou

Director: Jon M Chu

However entertaining, the original romp scarcely called for a sequel and certainly not one running well over two hours. Still, three of the four master magicians known as the Horsemen are back for another escapade, with a rather over-enthusiastic Caplan replacing (a pregnant) Isla Fisher.

Busy denouncing and debunking a shady entrepreneur, the Horsemen are themselves tricked and land up in Macao - only the beginning of developments that are just too silly for words.

Their boss (Ruffalo), a now-disgraced CIA agent, tracks them down and finds they have been pressured into obtaining an encrypted card from an impregnable bank by Radcliffe as the diminutive boss of Macao's crooked dealings. The card will enable him to access any computer in the world.

Lurking in the background are eminences grises Caine as Radcliffe's dad and Freeman as the fearless four's arch-enemy, whose bargain with Ruffalo is release from prison in exchange for his help running the Horsemen to ground.

There's vary little magic here, but lots of deception, including complex masterstrokes that would take seemingly impossible amounts of money and manpower to execute. Radcliffe and Freeman give the best performances, but Eisenberg in particular seems just along for the ride on this one. At the end of the day, it's an empty entertainment: lots of hats but very few rabbits.

David Quinlan

USA 2016. UK Distributor: entertainmentOne. Colour by Panalux.
129 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 0, Drugs 0, Swearing 0.

Review date: 05 Jul 2016