Serpentine plotting is an essential part of the Now You See Me franchise, but this time the writers have really raised the bar. I was relieved to learn that one of the films’ stars, Jesse Eisenberg, has confessed that even he had a struggle to make sense of one of this instalment’s wilder convolutions.

Not that making sense has ever been a priority here. It’s all about smoke and mirrors and filling the screen with a non-stop parade of stunts hyped to the point of ultimate distraction.

It’s been 10 years since the last film in the series, but the formula hasn’t changed. After a long break, the Horsemen, a popular team of stage illusionists, are mounting a comeback, touring the world with their show while employing their magic to catch international criminals. The bigger the crime and the richer the perpetrator, the better they like it. The only difference this time is the size of the cast. The original team has been joined by three juniors, recruited by the Eye, the mysterious agency which assigns the Horsemen’s cases. It also orchestrated the group’s reunion. When the action begins, Eisenberg’s Daniel Atlas is still grumbling over past disagreements which stem from the fact that the others decided to give up the game when he wanted to go on.

In their sights this time is Rosamund Pike, expertly putting on an Afrikaans accent as Veronika Vanderberg, the imperious head of a family of corrupt diamond miners. The Vanderbergs use the gems to launder the proceeds of their dirty dealings with drug smugglers and arms runners, and the Horsemen are out to redistribute some of their wealth by stealing their fabled gem, the Heart Diamond.

Once again, glamour and globe-trotting are key ingredients. We start in New York, where Atlas becomes acquainted with the newbies – Charlie (Justice Smith), June (Ariana Greenblatt) and Bosco (Dominic Sessa), who’s almost as brash and egotistical as Atlas himself. And they’re soon joined by Henley (Isla Fisher), cJack (Dave Franco) and Woody Harrelson, who’s still in charge of light relief as Merritt McKinney, the genial hypnotist.

Next stop is a chateaû in the French countryside where Morgan Freeman makes a brief appearance as Thaddeus, their contact from the Eye. Then it’s on to Dubai and a major display of glitz as Veronika and her entourage prepare to show off the company’s new racing car. Naturally enough, one of the Horsemen succeeds in appropriating it for a dizzying chase through the city streets.

It takes a very light touch to bring off this sort of thing, and the director, Ruben Fleischer, hasn’t managed it. Nor have his writers. A vital clue lies in the fact that it took a gang of them to whip the script into its final form, and the dialogue still lacks the necessary spark. There’s some predictable banter arranged around the rivalry between the team’s two generations, but it’s such a big cast that nobody gets a chance to shine.

Maybe it’s having to concentrate on the accent, but Pike, who has a deft way with comedy in the right circumstances, can’t seem to find a rhythm for Veronika’s highly theatrical brand of outrageousness, and Fisher’s role is so underwritten that she melts into the crowd.

The only one to make me laugh was Lizzy Caplan, who shows up regrettably late in the day. She delivers her few lines with a breezy irreverence that instantly lifts the mood. If only we saw more of her.

5.5/10 meh.

Bolu
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.