Master’s Trick 3 betrays its magic in a problematic sequence; read review

At a certain point in time Master Trick 3J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg) says to Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) that they are magicians, not superheroes. This small excerpt, almost insignificant in a scene full of pyrotechnics, is a major symptom of the film that hit theaters this Thursday, the 13th. After all, the director Ruben Fleischer (Venom) seems to no longer know how to grow this franchise without turning it into something it never intended to be.

In the story, part of the group of magicians called The Four Horsemen (Eisenberg, Franco, Woody Harrelson e Isla Fisher) meets again, years later, after being summoned by the Eye. However, it’s not just veterans who head out on another mission involving robbery and magic. A group of cool young people, played by Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt, enter the path of the Knights with more tricks and illusions up their sleeves.

As always, the basis of this new Master’s Trick It’s the magic. These seven illusionists — plus special appearances here and there — are responsible for preventing a tycoon (played by Rosamund Pikewith a questionable Russian accent) wins the sale of a giant diamond. Everything, in comparison to the previous two films, tries to be bigger, more impactful, more grandiose. It’s the need to make sequels that justify themselves by having more complicated stories, not better ones — which inevitably leads to problems.

When magic becomes CGI

Master Trick 3from the first moment, sounds more like a superhero movie than a magic movie. It’s something that the second feature film already had in some form, but which here becomes impossible to ignore. The tricks stop being ingenious and surprising and become spectacles of visual effects — and when everything is done by computer, where is the illusion? Where is the charm in not knowing how it was done?

The central problem is simple: magic works through limitation, through apparent impossibility. When characters start doing things that are clearly only possible with CGI, all the fun is lost. There is no longer the pleasure of trying to figure out the trick, because you know there is no trick, just pixels. Fleischer, who has already demonstrated in Venom his preference for visual chaos seems lost here. The action scenes are frantic and confusingly edited, making it difficult to keep track of who is doing what.

Too many characters and a patchwork script

Veterans are relegated to secondary roles in their own franchise. Eisenberg looks bored, Woody Harrelson tries to save his scenes with pure charisma, and Isla Fisher and Dave Franco practically disappear. The new Knights are introduced hastily and never gain any real depth. In the end, it’s hard to care about any of them, especially with questionable performances from Smith and Greenblatt.

Rosamund Pike, a very talented actress, is completely wasted as a caricatured villain. There is no real tension, no sense of danger. Even when the Knights are “captured,” we know they will escape easily, because this is a universe where nothing has real consequences.

Four screenwriters are credited, and it shows in every scene. The film feels like a patchwork of disjointed ideas, with jokes that don’t work, predictable plot twists and artificial dialogue. The final revelations try to recreate the surprise of the first film, but fall completely flat. When everything can be an illusion, nothing matters.

There is something curiously dated about Master Trick 3. It feels like an artifact of 2013, when this kind of “smart people doing smart things” thriller still had appeal. We know exactly what to expect: elaborate tricks, predictable twists, arrogant characters. There is no risk, there is no boldness, there is nothing to justify this sequel other than the commercial potential.

The trick that no longer works

It would be unfair to say that the film is completely devoid of merit. There are genuinely fun sequences, especially in the interactions between the original characters. A scene of them trying to escape a tank, for example, is the essence of the franchise. The cast tries their best, and there’s a self-aware sense of humor that works occasionally. When it embraces its nature as disposable entertainment, Master Trick 3 manages to bring out a few smiles.

But in the end, the film falls victim to the common trap of sequels: more is mistaken for better. More characters, more tricks, more effects — instead of more heart, more creativity or more reason to exist. By turning everything into a CGI spectacle, the film betrays its own premise and forgets what made the original concept interesting.

As the film itself admits, they are magicians, not superheroes. The shame is that no one took this warning seriously. When trying to be everything, Master Trick 3 It forgets to be what matters: magical.