Plot:  The plot of this film centers around four street magicians: J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco).  These four magicians are brought together by a mysterious source, and form a group called the Four Horsemen, who pull insane magic tricks in order to be inducted into a secret society of magic.  Meanwhile, cop Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) attempt to stop these magic acts, as the Horsemen are using their tricks to rob banks.  The story is very interesting, with twists and turns that will keep you shocked and awed.  As the movie moves toward a climax, everything becomes more and more ridiculous and spectacular, not unlike a magicians show, which keeps everything entertaining.

Acting:  Nothing notably spectacular, but pretty good all around.  Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Woody Harrelson never disappoint, and the side characters are all well acted as well.  The magicians play there parts will a controlled and snarky manor of intelligence, which is pretty entertaining when matched with the determination shown by Mark Ruffalo, who plays a police officer.

Action:  While there are not many action scenes in the movie, they are all shot well, and give some suspense for the few chance scenes sprinkled throughout the film.

Characters:  The main focus of this movie lies on the magician characters, who are all well written in their own respects.  They all have distinct personalities, which the actors who play them portray very well.  The police officer character is also very well written, as a confused and frustrated person who is constantly being out-witted by street performers.  The only poorly written and cliché character in the movie is the love interest of the cop, who is truly only in the movie to be a red herring for a later plot point.  She’s written so bland and generic that she could (and should) be edited out of the film, and no one would notice.

Cinematography (Music, Atmosphere, Camerawork):  The movie looks good, with some nice sweeping shots of New York City and other large urban areas.  The camerawork is used in a different manor than it usually would in this movie, however.  One of the major points the movie tries to get across is the use of deception, and that the more you think you know, the  less you actually do.  The camerawork really helps to drive this idea home, by making you think you can see what’s actually happening, to find out later that you really had no idea.

Dialogue:  Good, especially from the magician characters.  Because they are meant to be smarter and one-step-ahead of everyone else, they are given very witty and sometimes pretty funny lines.  They keep the mood light, and help to keep you allow the audience a bit of a breather from all the magic and tricks.  The only spouts of poor dialogue again reside with the cops love interest, who is given cheap and clichéd lines that no one could make sound good.

Special Effects:  The CGI work that is used for most of the magic tricks is not bad, but not very good either.  Much of the effects look very obviously computer generated, but not so poorly that is really detracts from the entire experience.

Final Verdict:  Now You see Me is a good time, a movie that does not revolutionize film-making, but is a good way to kill a couple of hours.  The only thing that drags it down for me is the Interpol agent, who grinds any suspense to a halt, and replaces it with boring and overdone romance clichés.  Every other element is good, however, and I recommend a rental when the movie comes out on DVD.  I give it a 7 out of 10.