Magic meets Ocean's Eleven is Now You See Me, but there is nothing magical in this curious but poorly written and directed crime thriller that only makes sense in the filmmakers' heads. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, Now You See Me does not lack star power, just intelligence.

Now You See Me is about a team of magicians known as the Four Horsemen who are brought together by a mysterious figure to pull off an incredibly brazen magic trick, and crime: to rob a bank on the other side of the planet in front of a live, Las Vegas audience. And that's only the beginning.

Now You See Me is plagued by poor character development, rushed storytelling, bland direction (thanks once again, Louis Leterrier) and an obnoxious score. Are Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson the protagonists? Or does that title fall to awkward investigative partners Ruffalo and Laurent? It isn't entirely obvious who the audience is supposed to cheer for, and I'm not sure that even the filmmakers knew.

Despite its shortcomings, the movie is moderately entertaining for most of its running time, even if the entertainment factor stems largely from morbid curiosity. From the first few minutes, Now You See Me shows its true colors as a chaotic mess, but the intriguing premise keeps things alluring. After all, the mess could be a result of a complex plot that will come together in the end, right?

Wrong. The ending makes no sense. Literally no sense. For a type of movie that so heavily relies on the ending to wrap everything up, Now You See Me misses the mark more than most. I'd warn about spoilers, but I'm still scratching my head. If you watch this movie and think that it does make sense, you're fooling yourself.

Now You See Me is a movie that prides itself on having so much going on you are convinced the filmmakers know what the hell they are doing, but the big revelation is that in the finale, the filmmakers just shrug their shoulders and deliver a big "F YOU." Sadly, I don't think they even realize it.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.