Now You See Me 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. From start to finish, the image looked great.
Sharpness excelled. Little to no softness materialized, so this left us with a tight, precise presentation. The movie lacked shimmering or jaggies, and I witnessed no edge haloes or print flaws.
Like so many other modern flicks, See Me 2 presented a heavy teal orientation, along with splashes of orange. As tedious as that choice may be, the Blu-ray reproduced the hues in a satisfying manner. Blacks appeared tight and dark, while shadows seemed smooth and clear. The transfer worked very well.
I also felt highly pleased with the movie’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 on my system, the soundscape created a broad, involving soundscape. The magic/action scenes fared best, as those used the channels in a compelling manner. This meant elements that zipped around the room and formed a lively setting at all times.
Audio quality appeared positive. Music was bold and vivid, while effects came across as accurate and dynamic, with terrific low-end response. Speech seemed natural and concise. An active, involving mix, the track added to the film.
As we move to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Jon M. Chu. He presents a running, screen-specific look at story/character areas, cast and performances, music and editing, sets and locations, magic, stunts and action, and various effects.
Chu provides a fairly average commentary. On the positive side, he manages to give us a generally good array of insights related to the film. However, Chu delivers too much praise for all involved, and that side of things turns this into an inconsistent chat.
Three featurettes follow. The Art of the Ensemble runs 21 minutes, 11 seconds and offers comments from Chu, producer Bobby Cohen, chief magic and mentalism consultant, screenwriter Ed Solomon, and actors Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Sanaa Lathan, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Dave Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. “Art” looks at cast, characters and performances. We learn how great everyone was and how much fun they had. Don’t expect much real information.
You Can’t Look Away goes for 17 minutes, 15 seconds and provides notes from Chu, Franco, Radcliffe, Caplan, Eisenberg, Cohen, cinematographer Peter Deming, production designer Sharon Seymour, makeup/hair designer Frances Hannon, visual effects supervisor Matt Johnson, art director Stuart Kearns and actor David Warshofsky. “Away” examines sets, locations and visual design, costumes/makeup and photography. “Away” offers a little more substance than “Art” but it remains fluffy.
Finally, we get the 16-minute, nine-second Bringing Magic to Life. It involves Harrelson, Radcliffe, Freeman, Chu, Deming, Solomon, Cohen, Seymour, Eisenberg, Barry, Ruffalo, Franco, Caplan, Johnson, and co-producer David Copperfield “Life” views the movie’s magic scenes and the actors’ training. Like “Away”, this one offers a few insights but it tends to be superficial.
The disc opens with ads for Deepwater Horizon, Nerve, The Divergent Series: Allegiant, The Last Witch Hunter and the “Hunger Games Collection”.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of See Me 2. It includes the commentary and “You Can’t Look Away” but lacks the other featurettes.
After an inconsistent but fairly fun first film, Now You See Me 2 fizzles. It tries too hard to recreate its predecessor’s magic and turns into a dull imitation. The Blu-ray presents excellent picture and audio as well as a decent set of supplements. The sequel doesn’t live up to its predecessor.