Now You See Me 2 is a desperate attempt to pull a franchise out of thin air. But this glitzy Hollywood hoodwink is nothing more than a slavish pull of wool over the audiences eyes.

The movie extends beyond necessity, and the final reveal does not create the excitement it means to. With on-going plans for a third movie, the franchise seems to have fallen prey to toxic sequelitis, and we can only hope that 3 works out to be the lucky number for the magicians.

Characters from part 1 are brought back with lame justifications clearly because they are star names. It doesn’t help that the film, like the first one, treats people as a dummy crowd that seem to be cheering at anything that comes their way. If that’s what the makers thought of us, then they are way off the mark

Director Jon M Chu tries hard to make the sequel lively and more amusing, but the story is more far-fetched and bloated and too dependent on special effects. Casting the former Harry Potter as a bad guy incapable of any magic is admittedly funny. Now You See Me 2 gives the illusion of being a clever deception. While it might be more fun and flamboyant, the sequel is not magical enough.