Now You See Me

  I must say a lot of these upcoming posts may be about movie reviews. I think it's important to be able to look at movies through a theological lens/perspective. Because, entertainment and movies are one of the most powerful ways which ideas, thoughts, lifestyles, and view points are communicated. I really honestly believe that if you want to see what a society looks like look no further than the movies they watch, the books they read, and the music they listen to. With all that being said are hope is to continue to provide our readers with honest, intentional looks at the movies in our society today.

  I must be honest, I really like movies, and I really enjoyed Now You See Me. If you've been to a movie in the past few months there is a really good chance that you've seen a preview for Now You See Me, it is a movie about four rogue magicians who some how get brought together by a force/person they are unaware of. But, they all come together for one reason: they want to join The Eye one of the most sacred/prestigious accolades for a magician. (Note: The Eye is a fictional aspect of the movie) As they begin their quest to join the eye they are told they need to preform in three separate venues and conclude each evening with a MAJOR trick. The first major trick as is seen in movie trailers is the group brings a man up at the end of their first show in Vegas, they transport the man to his bank, and the man proceeds to rob the bank. Once the man returns the magicians, who are called the Four Horsemen, rain all the money from the bank's vault to all the people in the audience. The crowd is stunned that the final trick of the night was robbing a bank of three million dollars.

  Needless to say this enrages the FBI, and they desire to arrest and bring down the Four Horsemen. However, the group is very evasive and that proves to be easier said than done. A very exciting plot twist is that in the audience of each of the Horsemen's shows is a magician debunker named Thaddeous Bradley (played by Morgan Freemen), and Bradley's goal throughout the movie is expose the Horsemen as frauds. Whether he does it or not you'll just have to watch the movie and see. The thrilling conclusion, and their final trick are sure to leave your jaws dropped!

  In looking at the movie from a Christian perspective one will notice an obvious truth that stealing is obviously very wrong. It is important especially if you and a child go to see this movie that they understand that what the Horsemen did in robbing the bank was a very wrong thing. They did have noble intentions, you'll see when you watch the movie, but that just continues to show us a very important truth that the ends should not justify the means. The FBI are painted as the bad guys in this film, so please make sure that if you're watching the film with little ones they understand that taking something that isn't there's is always wrong.

  The second aspect of the film to which I want to draw your attention is that unfortunately magic isn't real. In  John 14 Jesus told all of his disciples that he was the way, the truth, and the life. Apart from Jesus there is no truth and reality. We can easily get excited about magic, because it's something new and different. It challenges us and even at times inspires us. But, please understand that magic at it's heart is just a deception, and I think the film does a very good job of reminding it's viewers about that.

  In terms of family friendliness I would give this film 2.5 stars out of five. While there is very little sexual content, there are intense situations, at times foul language, and one does see smoking and alcohol. But, in terms of the overall quality of the movie I give this film 4.5 stars out of five. It is in my opinion one of the most original, unique movies I've seen in a long time.