'Blu-ray or Bust' - NOW YOU SEE ME 2

'Blu-ray or Bust'

NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (2016, 129 minutes, SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT)

I have issues with films that ignore continuity. It irritates me. Makes me want to vomit angrily in the direction of Hollywood.

Don’t get me wrong—there are several moments of this sequel to the mediocre first film that are entertaining, and others that are just downright ludicrous. But to ignore the ending of the first film kinda bugs me. Like a scrotum rash. See, at the end of the first, our heroes jump onto a magical merry-go-round, with promises of real magic. If you watched through the first few minutes of the end credits, you are treated to an entirely useless scene in which they wind up in a magic trick junkyard in the middle of some desert via a van. The scene is useless, because it ends stupidly, and serves no purpose whatsoever. Because the second film has absolutely nothing to do with.

The best moments of the sequel involve Lizzy Caplan as new Horsemen member “Lulu”, who is a funny, violent spark in a sea of bland, over-written scenes, and Michael Caine, who is allowed to amp up his natural humor. Everyone else is okay, but the plot starts distracting from the performances; there are too many tricks in this film, and not enough of this ensemble being able to do what you know they could all do if given the chance. There is a palpable chemistry between the actors, but the plot sucks.

If you need a synopsis, let’s try this: Bruce Banner/The Hulk breaks Red out of Shawshank so they can rescue his “kids”: Woody from “Cheers”, Mark Zuckerberg, James Franco’s baby brother, and the hot girl at the party from CLOVERFIELD. Seems that they have been kidnapped by Batman’s butler and his bastard son, Harry Potter, in order to steal a computer thingy that can access any computer on the planet. This would give the bad guys access to your Facebook and Twitter, which would provide them with the means for world domination… or some stupid thing. It’s all a statement about protecting privacy, and the message falls flat due to the fact that the threat is more of a “yeah-well-I-could-totally-hack-your-Instagram” thing than it is a threat to human life.

There are three doc’s on the Blu-ray, which is one more than you get with the regular DVD release. If you are going to watch this, it should be in this format. Some of the “magic” tricks look very nice digitally, and the soundtrack sounds better. But honestly, don’t buy it. Rent it… if you have to.

As of this writing, there has not been a third installment announced. If the foreign box office has any influence (which it usually does), there probably will be another sequel. Don’t worry, though; if you skip this installment, I’m sure the filmmakers will totally ignore the mysterious ending of this one, too.

Grade: C-

Special Features: B

Blu-ray Necessary: If you absolutely must. But I wouldn’t. Go rent it.

-- T.S. Kummelman