Now You See Him, Now You Don't

Comedic take on the Invisible Man motif, featuring Disney's Medfield College gang of Dexter Riley, Dean Higgins et al. A good showcase for Kurt Russell's early work in comedy, before he started doing violent action heroes a few years later.

This time, Riley (Russell) is one of several college students trying to win a scientific invention contest. Lightning strikes (literally) and he finds himself in possession of a viable invisibility potion. He is ready to wow the world with this scientific breakthrough, but then, some evil hi jinx by crooks intervene, setting up some weird moments, car chases, predictable slapstick, keystone cop style bumbling, and other tomfoolery. The invisibility special effects are cheap, but it doesn't matter.

There are some slow points and lulls, but the good scenes make up for it. The golf sequences and the "invisibility presentation" bit are the funniest moments. The cast features some great character acting by Joe Flynn, Cesar Romero, Jim Backus, and William Windom.

Brainless fun for when you're in the mood for 3 Stooges type slapstick.

Kurt Russell and a whole bunch of the cast from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes got to repeat their characters in Now You See Him, Now You Don't. The biggest surprise of course was Cesar Romero who with Richard Bakalyn should have been in jail because of what happened in the last film.

But Romero apparently had a good lawyer and he's out and holding the mortgage on dear old Medfield College. Kurt and his buddies find out that Romero plans to foreclose on the college and open it up as a gambling palace with dogtrack, casino and all.

In the meantime Russell as Dexter Riley again is now conducting experiments with invisibility. Lightning strikes once again and he's got himself a liquid invisibility formula which could win a science award and solve dear old Medfield's problems.

But not if Romero gets his hands on it because he has other more nefarious plans as any crook just might.

Some nice special effects characterize Now You See Him, Now You Don't as the kids use the invisibility formula to help Dean Joe Flynn win a golf match. Golf pro Billy Casper never was up against something like this when he faced off against Hogan and Snead.

And once again absolutely no hint of what was going on in the real world coming into the the Disney created world of Medfield College.

Still the film has some good laughs in it and it shouldn't be taken all that seriously.

Just as good as its predecessor, perhaps even slightly better in moments.

All in all I narrowly prefer 'The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes', but 'Now You See Him, Now You Don't' most certainly still produces solid fun. Everything revolves around invisibility this time, the stuff that Dexter & Co. get up to is suitably entertaining.

Kurt Russell reprises the role of Dexter, again positively - no surprise he went on to become such a well known star. Cesar Romero is also good for a second film running, as Arlo. Joe Flynn gets a bigger part as Higgins this time, he's definitely better in this production.

For the majority I felt it was superior to the 1969 original, but the third act drags ever so slightly to the point it brings it back down on a similar footing. Still, this is Disney's best live-action sequel up until this point - way more enjoyable than 'Son of Flubber' or 'Savage Sam', among others.

Can they make it a hat-trick of fine films with the other sequel in 'The Strongest Man in the World'? Hope so!

College dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) is trying to cut the chemistry department budget. He dismisses all the science being done by the students. A lightning strike hits the lab. The next day, Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) checks the damaged experiments and discovers an invisibility liquid. He shows his friends Richard Schuyler and Debbie Dawson. Crooked investor A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero) has bought up the college's mortgage. The Dean is clueless but the three friends suspect Arno has nefarious motives.

This is the second of the Dexter Riley movies from Disney. It is charming family fun. There is an endearing innocence about these movies. Baby-faced Kurt Russell is great. I also love the pre-CGI special effects. As a kid, I was engrossed by them. As an adult, I am enchanted by them. The story is silly but that's also part of the charm.

Dexter (Kurt Russell) returns from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes for a new adventure that can stand alone. Dexter, ever the college student prone to misadventure, has an idea for a formula to render things invisible. Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn) is less than impressed and sets his hopes for winning a lucrative science prize with the pupil studying bees. However, the bees sting the student and he turns out to be allergic. There goes THAT chance for a prize. But, wait, Dexter does it! He actually concocts a liquid that makes him invisible. Trouble is, a unscrupulous businessman (Cesar Romero) learns about it and decides he can use that formula, thank you, for something illegal. Can he manage to steal the bottle out from under Dexter's nose? This is a companion movie to the TCWT but one need not have seen the first film to enjoy this one. Russell is a genial leading screw-up who comes through when it really counts. The rest of the cast is also a dream, with Flynn, Romero, Jim Bacchus and others showing why their comic abilities are still held in high regard today. The script is just innocent fun that is charming, with the special effects somewhat simple, by today's standards, but effective nonetheless. If you want to sit down and relive a bygone era or just want to share a quality, G-rated film with your family, this is a great choice. Although it is over 30 years old, there is a great possibility that even now you will see your loved ones giggle away the blues with a showing of this fine flick.