History YMMV / NowYouSeeMe

* RetroactiveRecognition: Tressler's young wife is Player by Creator/CaitrionaBalfe, a year before her breakout role in the TV series ''Series/{{Outlander}}''.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Tressler's young wife is Player by Creator/CaitrionaBalfe, a year before her breakout role in ''Series/Outlander''.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Atlas's behavior makes it easy to interpret him as autistic, what with his ControlFreak tendencies, and occasional NoSocialSkills - which is TruthInTelevision, as how well an autistic person can handle social situations will vary wildly based on their mood, who they're talking to, or how important they find the situation. He's smooth in performances, having likely already scripted everything he's saying and doing, and comes off as slightly more stilted and awkward when in private, with people he's trying to talk to instead of manipulate.

* MagnificentBastard:
** [[spoiler:[[TheMole Dylan Rhodes]]]] is the Fifth Horseman and the mastermind behind the plot of the first film. [[spoiler:Born Dylan Shrike, son of Lionel Shrike, he sought revenge on the companies and men who he blamed for the death of his father, chief among them the corrupt CEO Arthur Tressler and magician debunker Thaddeus Bradley. Becoming a member of the secret magician society, The Eye, Dylan guides the Four Horsemen into performing magic tricks to steal money from the companies and distribute them to the audience, eventually publicly humiliating Tressler for his role in denying relief to Hurricane Katrina victims, while inserting himself into, and sabotaging, the FBI efforts to catch the Horsemen. [[ObfuscatingStupidity Fooling everyone with his bumbling detective act]], Dylan frames Thaddeus for being the Fifth Horseman and leaves him to rot in jail. [[TheBadGuyWins Having succeeded at his revenge]], Dylan [[Film/NowYouSeeMe2 later]] launches an operation to expose a plot to steal everyone's personal information; when it turns out to be a trap and puts the team in peril, Dylan [[EnemyMine teams up with Thaddeus]] and ultimately foils Arthur's revenge plot, using one last grand magic trick to deceive Arthur and his son Walter into exposing themselves and [[KarmaHoudini evading the police once again]].]]
** [[spoiler:The aforementioned [[BigGood Thaddeus Bradley]]]] is the Grandmaster of The Eye. [[spoiler:A former magician and Lionel Shrike's rival/best friend, Thaddeus turned to exposing magic tricks by other magicians for money after Lionel's tragic death. Seeking to [[StealthMentor test the Four Horsemen]] to see if they are capable of joining The Eye, Thaddeus [[TheMole allies with law enforcement]] and engages the Horsemen in a chase, figuring out the truth behind each of their magic tricks and relentlessly pursuing them. When framed for Dylan's crimes, Thaddeus spends a year preparing to strike back against both Dylan and Arthur Tressler, creating a fake software that will supposedly hack everyone's personal information and leading the Horsemen into a trap by sending them to steal the software. Extorting Dylan into breaking him out of prison by promising to help find his friends, Thaddeus pretends to betray Dylan by leading him into a trap by Arthur and Walter while secretly giving him the means to escape the trap. Finally, he has his subordinates reveal to Dylan that the software is fake, then, with Dylan's help, lures Arthur and Walter into [[EngineeredPublicConfession publicly exposing their misdeeds]] and makes up with Dylan, [[KarmaHoudini successfully evading the law this time]].]]

* SpiritualAdaptation: The premise of a thief who uses magic tricks to perform heists makes it one for ''Manga/MagicKaito,'' a manga best known for having its protagonist be a {{Transplant}} in ''Manga/DetectiveConan.''

** [[spoiler:[[TheMole Dylan Rhodes]]]] is the Fifth Horseman and the mastermind behind the plot of the first film. [[spoiler:Born Dylan Shrike, son of Lionel Shrike, he sought revenge on the companies and men who he blamed for the death of his father, chief among them the corrupt CEO Arthur Tressler and magician debunker Thaddeus Bradley. Becoming a member of the secret magician society, The Eye, Dylan guides the Four Horsemen into performing magic tricks to steal money from the companies and distribute them to the audience, eventually publicly humiliating Tressler for his role in denying relief to Hurricane Katrina victims, while inserting himself into, and sabotaging, the FBI efforts to catch the Horsemen. [[ObfuscatingStupidity Fooling everyone with his bumbling detective act]], Dylan frames Thaddeus for being the Fifth Horseman and leaves him to rot in jail. [[TheBadGuyWins Having succeeded at his revenge]], Dylan [[Film/NowYouSeeMe2 later]] launches an operation to [[spoiler:expose a plot to steal everyone's personal information; when it turns out to be a trap and puts the team in peril, Dylan [[EnemyMine teams up with Thaddeus]] and ultimately foils Arthur's revenge plot, using one last grand magic trick to deceive Arthur and his son Walter into exposing themselves and [[KarmaHoudini evading the police once again]].]]

** [[TheMole Dylan Rhodes]] is the Fifth Horseman and the mastermind behind the plot of the first film. Born Dylan Shrike, son of Lionel Shrike, he sought revenge on the companies and men who he blamed for the death of his father, chief among them the corrupt CEO Arthur Tressler and magician debunker Thaddeus Bradley. Becoming a member of the secret magician society, The Eye, Dylan guides the Four Horsemen into performing magic tricks to steal money from the companies and distribute them to the audience, eventually publicly humiliating Tressler for his role in denying relief to Hurricane Katrina victims, while inserting himself into, and sabotaging, the FBI efforts to catch the Horsemen. [[ObfuscatingStupidity Fooling everyone with his bumbling detective act]], Dylan frames Thaddeus for being the Fifth Horseman and leaves him to rot in jail. [[TheBadGuyWins Having succeeded at his revenge]], Dylan [[Film/NowYouSeeMe2 later]] launches an operation to expose a plot to steal everyone's personal information; when it turns out to be a trap and puts the team in peril, Dylan [[EnemyMine teams up with Thaddeus]] and ultimately foils Arthur's revenge plot, using one last grand magic trick to deceive Arthur and his son Walter into exposing themselves and [[KarmaHoudini evading the police once again]].
** The aforementioned [[BigGood Thaddeus Bradley]] is the Grandmaster of The Eye. A former magician and Lionel Shrike's rival/best friend, Thaddeus turned to exposing magic tricks by other magicians for money after Lionel's tragic death. Seeking to [[StealthMentor test the Four Horsemen]] to see if they are capable of joining The Eye, Thaddeus [[TheMole allies with law enforcement]] and engages the Horsemen in a chase, figuring out the truth behind each of their magic tricks and relentlessly pursuing them. When framed for Dylan's crimes, Thaddeus spends a year preparing to strike back against both Dylan and Arthur Tressler, creating a fake software that will supposedly hack everyone's personal information and leading the Horsemen into a trap by sending them to steal the software. Extorting Dylan into breaking him out of prison by promising to help find his friends, Thaddeus pretends to betray Dylan by leading him into a trap by Arthur and Walter while secretly giving him the means to escape the trap. Finally, he has his subordinates reveal to Dylan that the software is fake, then, with Dylan's help, lures Arthur and Walter into [[EngineeredPublicConfession publicly exposing their misdeeds]] and makes up with Dylan, [[KarmaHoudini successfully evading the law this time]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[spoiler:Dylan Rhodes. Nobody knew he was really the Fifth Horseman. Even Thaddeus Bradley, who's known for deconstructing illusionists like him.]]

* CriticalDissonance: Rated "Rotten" at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes but the "regular" folks at CinemaScore rate it an A-. The film's strong week-to-week holds also indicated terrific word-of-mouth from audiences.

* DesignatedVillain: Probably an issue that bothers many people who have seen the film. [[spoiler:Thaddeus Bradley did nothing illegal and nothing more immoral than expose Lionel Shrike's magic tricks. Of all the people responsible for Shrike's death and his family never receiving the life insurance they were owed, he's the least responsible, yet undeniably gets punished the worst for it.]]
** [[spoiler: Even Tressler Insurance and the company that made the safe are in the clear. The former refused to pay money out because the guy in question...performed an extremely dangerous magic trick that predictably got him killed- granted, not his family's fault, but insurance isn't meant to cover nigh-suicidal behaviour; with the latter the worst they did was cut corners and use sub-par materials, but once again, you are not ''supposed'' to lock yourself in safes in the first place, and they are ''designed'' to not be opened easily.]]
*** By what where lead to believe, Tressler is not a nice person and has cheated many people out of their money.