2013 hit “Now You See Me” finally got its sequel, three years later. Better late than never, right? Ever since the trailer was released, people had high expectations, and this movie fulfilled them all. In “Now You See Me 2” the illusions are flashier, the heists are even bigger, and the pace is a bit quicker. This movie is one of the few sequels that get everything right. It feels like the crew that worked on the first movie gathered together, analyzed everything that was amazing about the first movie and then decided to top it.

Most of the crew remains the same, however, this time they are livelier and more fun. Perhaps, the best thing about the movie is its twisty ability to mess around with the audience, so you can never entirely know what is happening until it is explained.

What some consider the greatest thing about the movie, others call the biggest fail. They believe that the movie is unnecessarily interrupted by mouthfuls of explanatory dialogue and lavish transitions. In addition, many of the subplots, such as the relationship between Mabry and Tressler as well as the romance between Jack and Lula, are not even one-quarter baked.

In “Now You See Me 2” the Horsemen, our modern day Robin Hoods, find themselves in China, working for Walter Mabry. Mabry is a mad genius played by Daniel Radcliffe, and he wants the Horsemen to help him steal a chip that would allow Mabry to access any computer program in the world. Radcliffe’s performance is outstanding, and he does a great job playing the creepy and hilarious hoot.

The chemistry between the Horsemen, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Woody Harrelson, is completely natural and unforced. It has a sort of “Ocean’s 11” charm to the proceedings. In this movie, Harrelson got a double role. Besides playing Horseman Merrit, he also plays Chase, his twin brother. In addition, Lizzy Caplan is added as Lula and is the fresh new member of the crew. She took over for Isla Fisher’s MIA Henley. Caplan is full of nervous energy and angsty charm. Entertainment Weekly described Caplan’s addition to the cast as “one of the sequel's biggest improvements.”

Despite the mixed reviews, “Now You See Me 2” was nothing but a giant success. In the opening weekend, the movie grossed between $23 and $26 million. “Now You See Me 2” finished at the third place in the box office, behind The Conjuring 2 ($40.4 million), and Warcraft ($24.1 million) As of August 8, 2016, the movie earned a total of $313.4 million. The budget for the creation of the movie was $90 million.

The reason why original movies are usually better than sequels is because they often miss the element of the surprise. Thankfully, in “Now You See Me 2,” this essential ingredient is more than present.

Go behind the scenes of “Now You See Me 2” and see how the film was made.