Movies and magic have a long and somewhat awkward history. On one hand, the fabulous visual effects we see in movies can create wonders that stage magicians used to only be able to dream of. On the other hand, audiences are now so aware of this sort of trickery that films no longer inspire the same sort of wonder that an up close and personal sleight of hand artist can pull off.
But if you combine the two, and put a stage magician in a movie, the effect rarely works. Audiences know about trick editing, so even if the magician is really doing something fantastic, it doesn’t have much impact. So although there are a lot of movies about magicians, there aren’t all that many good ones.
Also: ‘Now You See Me 2’ Review | Smart Pilferers vs. The World
So if you see Now You See Me 2 this weekend, or if you would rather watch something even better, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. We’ve consulted our massive eldritch tome of classic and contemporary motion pictures, ran it past our experts, and come up with the twelve great magician movies you have to see now, whether or not you see Now You See Me 2.
You will be amazed! You will be astounded! And you will most definitely be entertained…
12 Great Magician Movies You Have To See Now:
Top Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved, Rapid Reviews and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The 12 Best Magician Movies Ever
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Fairy Tale: A True Story (1997)
Legendary magician Harry Houdini plays small but pivotal role in this fantasy adventure, about two young girls who claim to have taken pictures of real-life fairies. Houdini (played by Harvey Keitel) is brought in to prove it's a hoax. The movie claims the fairies were real - even though in real life, Houdini was proven right - but it's still a sweet little story, filled with hope and wonder.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
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Fright Night (2011)
The better-than-expected remake of the classic 1985 horror comedy co-stars David Tennant as a Las Vegas stage magician who discovers that vampires are real. It's a clever subversion of the "skeptical magician" trope we usually see in fiction, in a film that was already exceptionally funny, thrilling and smart.
Photo: Walt Disney Studios
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Houdini (2014)
Uli Edel's Houdini is technically a TV mini-series, but it's so handsomely crafted that we won't hold that against it. Adrien Brody stars as the iconic escape artist, whose most elaborate tricks and most dangerous escapes are presented like blockbuster action sequences. Houdini is about as fun as biopics get.
Photo: Lions Gate Television
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The Illusionist (2010)
Not to be confused with the Edward Norton film of the same name - which was also about stage magic, but which isn't quite as good - Sylvain Chomet's heartbreaking animated feature tells the story of a little girl who thinks magic is real, and the sleight of hand artist who sacrifices everything to avoid proving her wrong. You will weep.
Photo: Sony Pictures Classics
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Lord of Illusions (1995)
One of Clive Barker's most popular films stars Scott Bakula as Harry D'Amour, a private detective hired to investigate a stage magician who might have had actual supernatural powers. The investigation spirals into madness and horror, and although the film is pure pulp, it's the good kind of pulp. (Track down the director's cut if you can; it is the superior version.)
Photo: MGM/UA
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Magic (1978)
Anthony Hopkins gives one of his finest performances in the disturbing drama Magic, about a magician who turns to ventriloquism, and gradually loses himself to multiple personality disorder. "Fats" is one of the most disturbing horror characters ever put on celluloid.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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Magic in the Moonlight (2014)
Woody Allen's shameless but effective My Fair Lady riff (which was itself a Pygmalion riff), is one of the filmmaker's better films in recent years. Colin Firth plays a stage magician who is enlisted to prove that a psychic (Emma Watson) is a fraud. But then he actually starts to believe in the unknown and turns his life around until... oh, that would be telling...
Photo: Sony Pictures Classics
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Nightmare Alley (1947)
Tyrone Power gives one of his best performances in Nightmare Alley, a film about a small-time hustler with big-time dreams. Power steals a priceless mind-reading scam off of a fellow carnival worker, builds himself a reputation, and then gets in WAY over his head. Nightmare Alley is an impossibly grim film noir, with a horrifying conclusion that was only "saved" by a last minute, somewhat hopeful denouement, courtesy of the skittish studio heads.
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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Now You See Me (2013)
The second Now You See Me is a lot of fun, but the novelty is more exciting in the original film, about a group of stage magicians who pull off a series of elaborate heists. The highlight: Dave Franco using sleight of hand to amplify his kung fu skills, in one of the weirder and more entertaining fight scenes in recent memory.
Photo: Summit Entertainment
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Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Purists scoffed, but Oz the Great and Powerful turned out to be an intriguing film about the nature of showmanship, with the shyster "wizard" arriving in Oz, only to discover that his trickery has consequences. It's a smart statement about the nature of this prequel: a distractingly colorful CGI fantasy that obfuscates a somewhat subversive commentary about the nature of contemporary blockbuster filmmaking, and the irony of the theatrical concept of "prestige."
Photo: Walt Disney Studios
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The Prestige (2006)
Speaking of prestige, Christopher Nolan's sumptuous period piece The Prestige marvels at its own cleverness, pulling the rug out from the under the audience many times over the course of the film. But the story - about two rival magicians destroying each other, repeatedly - holds up long after you know how the trick got pulled. It's an inventive but sad story about the tireless pursuit of applause.
Photo: Buena Vista Pictures
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Terror Train (1980)
This 1980 slasher is better than most films of its ilk, with a solid cast, gorgeous lighting and a somewhat clever screenplay. But best of all is a young David Copperfield, more or less playing himself, wowing the cast with his close-up illusions and trying to trick the audience into thinking he's anything more than a red herring. (OR IS HE...?)
Photo: 20th Century Fox
