There’s a lot of Hey and too little Presto, and seeing the trailer on the big-screen is more fulfilling than grabbing the whole. There are patches of fun, but Now You See Me ends up a wasted mess populated with good actors.

Despite its flashy trappings, viewers are unlikely to surrender to the spell of the on-screen legerdemain. Clues and red herrings abound around every turn as Now You See Me gradually spins itself into a tizzy especially in the plottier second half.

As Morgan Freeman promises in the trailer, it’s true, “The more you think you see, the easier it’ll be to fool you.