All 3 Now You See Me Movies Ranked

There's nothing quite like a fun heist movie with a star-studded cast. Steven Soderbergh's "Ocean's Eleven" (a remake of the 1960s movie starring Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies) launched a renaissance of this subgenre in 2001, and "Now You See Me" picked up that baton in 2013, bringing along a similarly stacked ensemble and even using Las Vegas as the central backdrop. Where the latter film sets itself apart is its focus on magicians — not only are the people doing the heists illusionists, but so are those trying to stop them. It seemed like a logical step: Heist films contain lots of misdirection, escape tricks, and other magic-adjacent tomfoolery, so why not just go all the way and have it be actual magicians doing straight-up magic tricks?

Famed illusionist David Copperfield even confirmed that the magic in "Now You See Me" was all real — that is to say, illusions that are actually performed practically and are possible to replicate on a real life stage, rather than through special effects. Copperfield was a consultant on the first movie and a producer on the second, so there could be some bias there, but, either way, the magic angle gives the "Now You See Me" movies a unique flavor, one that has made the series popular enough to spawn three installments and counting. How do the films stack up against one another? We've ranked them from worst to best.

Isla Fisher didn't return as escape artist Henley Reeves for "Now You See Me 2" because she was going to be too pregnant when the bulk of the sequel was scheduled to be filmed. As great as Lizzy Caplan — her de facto replacement — is as master of misdirection Lula May in the sequel, losing a key member of the original ensemble was the first of too many strikes against the middle installment in the trilogy.

Daniel Radcliff chews the scenery with delight as new villain Walter Mabry, who sets the story in motion when he gets members of the street magician group the Four Horsemen (Caplan, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Mark Ruffalo) to steal some tech for him. He's definitely one of the brighter spots in this otherwise dim sequel, which adds on too many absurd twists, eye-rolling double crosses, and ridiculous endgame surprises for the movie's extremely thin foundation to sustain. 

Critics were already tepid on the first movie, but they really went to town on the follow-up, which earned a paltry 34% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even the audience score on the review aggregation website (which is high for the other two installments) was underwhelming at just 53%. With its weak plot about exposing a corrupt tech CEO who aims to collect the personal data of his customers so he can sell it, "Now You See Me 2" is the worst movie in this franchise to date and it's not even close.

"Now You See Me" establishes the Four Horsemen as a group of magicians who pull off seemingly impossible bank heists so they can give the money to their audiences. Mark Ruffalo's Dylan Rhodes is an FBI agent trying to bring down these Robin Hood-esque thieves — at least, that's what the first film in the franchise wants you to think. Obviously, now that we're three movies in, it's a little late to avoid spoiling the fact that Rhodes was the secret "Fifth Horseman" all along.

Even putting that twist aside, "Now You See Me" is absolutely ridiculous. After all, it's a movie about magicians who use Las Vegas casino-style illusions to rob high security banks because they believe in the fair distribution of wealth. However, the film is absolutely ridiculous in the most fun way possible. It knows what it is, and its most successful illusion is tricking you into turning off the part of your brain that would otherwise scrutinize the plot too closely, forcing you to just enjoy the ride.

After the huge downgrade that was "Now You See Me 2," the original movie started to feel like the kind of picture that should've just been a one-and-done job. Sure, that would have meant leaving the cliffhanger teases forever unfulfilled, but that's how bad the second film is. However, the decision to turn "Now You See Me" into a franchise was ultimately justified by the third and final film on this list.

For a time, it looked like "Now You See Me" was going to join the ranks of movie trilogies that will never be completed, but, finally, in 2025, the third installment hit, complete with a clever title that many people felt the first sequel should've used. Given how disappointing "Now You See Me 2" was, "Now You See Me: Now You Don't" only had to be better than that to make fans happy — a low bar to clear indeed. Not only did it clear that bar, but "Now You Don't" also became the first non-rotten installment in the franchise with a 60% on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps the movie's most impressive trick is that it manages to avoid the all-too-common trap of the overstuffed third installment that ends up being a jack of all trades and master of none. 

Make no mistake — "Now You Don't" has a lot going on and is chock full of characters old and new. In the threequel, a new generation of illusionists join up with the Four Horsemen to battle a global criminal network. Like a master plate spinner, the movie balances everything while keeping audiences entertained throughout. It addresses AI and deepfake technology but still relies on impressive practical illusions to do the heavy visual spectacle lifting. What makes it better than the original movie — and it's only just better, for the record — is the fact that it didn't have to waste time establishing who the Four Horsemen are. They are there from the start, and they're able to get right down to the business of wowing us.