I am a big fan of magic.  I love to be amazed by card tricks, illusions,  and magicians such as Penn and Teller.  My favorite unit to teach my sixth graders is a unit on Harry Houdini.  I liked the first “Now You See Me” and looked forward to seeing this sequel.  Unfortunately I was disappointed.   The plot was okay, if confusing, and the actors are all very likeable.  Daniel Radcliffe even gets to play a bad guy!  The special effects are great – but that is the problem for me.  The special effects magic looked contrived and unconvincing.  I would love to see more  realistic looking illusions like we saw in the first movie.   There is a silly subplot involving Woody Harrelson  playing his original character and his goofy twin brother.  With the talents of Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco,Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Lizzie Caplan  and  Michael Caine, I expected a great movie, not just an adequate one.