The first two Now You See Me movies offered a fast-paced look into the world of magic. This was a new spin on filmmaking because it has a great cast, a decent plot, and offers a glimpse of how magic is done behind the scenes. Now You See Me 2025 is no different.
The plot of Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025) follows the original Four Horsemen reuniting to stop a powerful diamond heiress, Veronika Vanderberg, who is involved with international criminals. They team up with a new generation of illusionists for a high-stakes heist to expose her corruption. Aiding them in this magic-fueled caper is Thaddeus Bradley.
The film stars all the original Horsemen and adds three new ones for this film. The film does an excellent job of continuing the plot of the first two films, where the gang of magicians works to expose those criminals to their wrongdoing.
The story is good, the visuals are good, the timing and speed of the film, overall all is good. What appears to be not so good is my attention span. I cannot tell if today’s movies are really bad, or if I can no longer sit through an hour and a half movie without being bored.
In 2025, I have seen enough movies to feel like something is off. I cannot tell if it is the 15-second reels, if it is the endless stress that if life in 2025, or if movie-making is at an all-time low. But something is off.
And I am not alone. If you look at the receipts from the movies released in 2025, the box office totals are at the lowest point since the pandemic, when we could not go out of the house without a mask.
Americans are staying away from the theater in record numbers, and it cannot be the ridiculous price of movie tickets and popcorn. It must be something else. There is a problem somewhere, I just cannot put my finger on it.
I often thought about how fast movies go from the theater to streaming. We used to have a sense of urgency to see a movie at the theater. Today, it comes to streaming so fast, most people just wait for that so the need to rush to a theater is reduced.
We no longer crave to sit in a room with complete strangers and listen to the amazing sounds and large visuals of movie magic. 85-inch TVs with 5.1 surround sound, and microwave popcorn have replaced the desire to venture out to see a mediocre movie.
So, I cannot put my finger on what is going on. All I know is that something is off. I cannot tell if it is me or the moviegoing experience. If you have an answer, please chime in and help us movie lovers figure out how to enjoy what used to be an amazing experience again.
By the way, Now You See Me gets six out of ten stars. Not bad, if you have nothing else to do. The film hits movie theaters this Friday nationwide.
