A lot of that just about describes the first two movies: spectacle movies where the larger than life “tricks” form a heist where the real trick is having fun doing something extremely corny. The first film is notable for really showing off some of the most fun directorial skill of Louis Letterier whose IMDB credits prove he’s somewhere between criminally underrated and extremely unlucky at finding projects (and generally doesn’t get offered to do the sequels). Letterier directed every episode of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, getting incredible performances from Muppets. He also directed The Incredible Hulk, the MCU’s
weirdest film getting a somewhat less than incredible performance from Edward Norton, though we know that was a ton of off screen drama and partly the mistake of letting Norton be a Producer on the film. (He also directed Fast X, the tenth movie of that franchise and arguably one of the better ones.)

Also fun fact: the top billed writer of the first two Now You See Me movies was Bill & Ted’s Ed Solomon. The earnest corniness seems intentionally in its DNA, given Solomon’s favorite oevre. (He did not return for Now You Don’t.)