At Medfield College, Dexter Riley (Dexter Riley) is back, now using the University's creative lab to work on an invisibility formula theorized by an 18th century Russian scientist. Following an electrical accident the formula starts working successfully. Meanwhile, crook A. J. Arno (Caesar Romero) recently paroled acquires Medfield's mortgage intending to foreclose on it and turn it into a hotel/casino. When Dexter discovers Arno's plot, Riley turns his attention towards using his Invisibility formula to win the coveted Forsythe Award of $50,000 to pay Medfield's mortgage, but Arno has more devious plans for the formula.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't reunites director Robert Butler and star Kurt Russell in their third collaboration following their success in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Barefoot Executive, while I wasn't a fan of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes I did enjoy The Barefoot Executive quite a bit, Now You See Him, Now You Don't feels much more polished than the previous entry in the Dexter Riley series and is much better paced and edited with a much more cinematic feel with some decent special effects and creative shenanigans. Some issues carry over from the previous entry, but the movie had enough gags that made it feel worth it.
In many ways, Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a disneyfied take on Universal's Invisible movies, which really isn't all that shocking as many of those films had traces of pitch black humor in them (such as the original film's "Here we go gathering nuts in May" sequence with Dr. Griffin's dancing trousers) and there is comic potential to be had from the invisibility premise. While I don't think I laughed as heartily as I did at the highest points of the Invisible Man's humor, I did enjoy the well-staged sequences with shoes running by themselves, driverless cars, and games of golf that defy belief of all who watch them. If there is a drawback to the movie, it's in its blatant recycling of the plot of the first movie. Many elements from this film follow the same basic structure as the last one, and it asks the audience to buy a LOT with Arno being trusted and having power after having been paroled (though given how real life operates.....). Once again I thought Arno was a waste of Caesar Romero and stood in the shadow of better Disney comedy villains like David Tomlinson from The Love Bug or Frank Gorshin from That Darn Cat, there's really not all that much to Arno and he's just there because he facilitates the third act's climax.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is basically the first movie done better. With better comedic timing, tighter editing, and an overall improvement in the polish on the film, Now You See Him, Now You Don't makes for serviceable if not particularly memorable viewing.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't reunites director Robert Butler and star Kurt Russell in their third collaboration following their success in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Barefoot Executive, while I wasn't a fan of The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes I did enjoy The Barefoot Executive quite a bit, Now You See Him, Now You Don't feels much more polished than the previous entry in the Dexter Riley series and is much better paced and edited with a much more cinematic feel with some decent special effects and creative shenanigans. Some issues carry over from the previous entry, but the movie had enough gags that made it feel worth it.
In many ways, Now You See Him, Now You Don't is a disneyfied take on Universal's Invisible movies, which really isn't all that shocking as many of those films had traces of pitch black humor in them (such as the original film's "Here we go gathering nuts in May" sequence with Dr. Griffin's dancing trousers) and there is comic potential to be had from the invisibility premise. While I don't think I laughed as heartily as I did at the highest points of the Invisible Man's humor, I did enjoy the well-staged sequences with shoes running by themselves, driverless cars, and games of golf that defy belief of all who watch them. If there is a drawback to the movie, it's in its blatant recycling of the plot of the first movie. Many elements from this film follow the same basic structure as the last one, and it asks the audience to buy a LOT with Arno being trusted and having power after having been paroled (though given how real life operates.....). Once again I thought Arno was a waste of Caesar Romero and stood in the shadow of better Disney comedy villains like David Tomlinson from The Love Bug or Frank Gorshin from That Darn Cat, there's really not all that much to Arno and he's just there because he facilitates the third act's climax.
Now You See Him, Now You Don't is basically the first movie done better. With better comedic timing, tighter editing, and an overall improvement in the polish on the film, Now You See Him, Now You Don't makes for serviceable if not particularly memorable viewing.