NOW YOU SEE ME 2 (12A) 129 mins. Stars Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco.

SEEING is deceiving in Jon M Chu's outlandish sequel to the 2013 crime caper about a team of wise-cracking illusionists known as the Four Horsemen, who expose the corrupt with their daredevil antics.

The first film was an enjoyable romp that lost its way with a hare-brained final act that cheated us as well as the gobsmacked characters.

Most of the original cast reprise their enigmatic roles and the sequel welcomes Daniel Radcliffe as a reclusive technical wizard, who ravenously chews scenery as he puts the lead quartet through the wringer.

Now You See Me 2 opens with a heart rending 1980s prologue that emboldens the underlying theme of father-son relationships.

Fast-forwarding to the present, it has been one year since the Four Horsemen outwitted Interpol and put former magician Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) behind bars.

FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) assigns the remaining Horsemen - close-up conjurer Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), mentalist Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson) and street magician Jack Wilder (Dave Franco) - a new case.

They must expose businessman Owen Case (Ben Lamb), who possesses software that maliciously steals personal data.

Sassy illusionist Lula May (Lizzy Caplan) replaces missing member Henley and the team infiltrates Case's high-profile media launch to expose his skulduggery.

Alas, the trick is on the Horsemen and Dylan is publicly exposed as the Fifth Horsemen to his boss, Deputy Director Natalie Austin (Sanaa Lathan).