Now You See Me 2

Unnecessary but welcome sequel time and Now You See Me 2 is finally out in cinemas after what feels like a long wait.

This sequel follows the exploits of the Four (well Five, but whisper it if you've not seen the first) Horsemen as they re-emerge from hiding to do more magical things in service of the unexplainable 'Eye' and trying to stay one step ahead of Daniel Radcliffe's mysterious (he also faked his own death) megalomaniac.

Radcliffe is great and brilliantly, very intentional or not, subverts his Harry Potter stereotype.

Jesse Eisenberg and Dave Franco are back and as great as before, Woody Harrelson gets so little to do he's cast twice, bizarrely, as his own brother (terrible decision this) and Isla Fisher is off having a baby so she's replaced by the excellent Lizzy Caplan who gets a lot more to do.

Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo and another certain older actor (I won't spoil it) are also back and always brilliant.

There's some great magic stunts in this one (a tense security check involving a playing card and Eisenberg's Atlas playing with the rain being the highlights) but another convoluted plot which, whilst satisfactory, ties itself in a little too-many knots leaving more of a 'huh?' reaction than an 'OMG!'

Having said that it's a logical step forward and you really can't go wrong with a magical action-thriller. It isn't as good as The Prestige (nothing ever will be) but it's a very good watch with a good pay-off.

Yes, there are a few silly plot holes and also a little too-much reliance on just hypnotising people to get away with advancing the plot but this sits on a par with the first.

4 stars ****