During the Summer of 2001, Ocean's Eleven, a remake, was unlike most remakes of the early 2000s. It was fresh, it was lively, it was fun to watch. Steven Soderbergh, who has directed some very heavy movies (Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris) brought us two hours of con-man entertainment that had very little to do with the premise of the original Rat Pack film from the 1960s other than Danny Ocean led 10 other thieves to rip off a Vegas casino. The pace, the plot, and the fun I had while watching Ocean's Eleven made me want to see Ocean's Twelve very much, hoping this would be the movie that bucked the sequel trend of the 2000s. While I was not expecting Godfather II or The Empire Stikes Back, I was at least hoping for a serviceable sequel, one that at least kept the life and energy of the original flowing through the characters and the scenes of the movie. By now, you should be getting the feeling I didn't feel it from this sequel. While Ocean's Twelve is not a bad movie, it just does not live up its predecessor's. Perhaps it was the genius of the fun little movie Ocean's Eleven that this movie just looks so different and less entertaining. Ocean's Twelve's first mistake? They make the good guys losers in the first scenes. Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), who had $160 million stolen from him in the first movie by the band of 11, finds out who stole the money and gives them 2 weeks to return the dough, plus interest, or it's "game over." This gives the movie makers and excuse to send the crew to Europe, to new fancy locales with new music and characters to meet. The plot is unimportant, as it just serves to allow each character a chance to scheme and plot some impossible scenario, and the acting is solid. George Clooney knows more than he's letting on as Danny Ocean, Brad Pitt knows even more than Ocean as Rusty Ryan, Bernie Mac likes his nail salons as Frank Catten, Matt Damon shows a nice comedic touch as Linus Caldwell, and, well, I could go on about the cast, but I wont. The newest additions to the cast are Catherine Zeta-Jones as an international thief expert and Andrew Cassel as the Night Fox, the designated bad-guy in the film. His motivations are juvenile but keeps the plot moving. The ending is border-line confusing, as the ultimate motivation for everything in the movie becomes clear only after the last scene of the movie, or possibly after a repeat viewing. As I said, this is not a bad movie, especially for those who enjoy a good caper movie, but perhaps the overreaching breadth of the movie made it difficult to capture the fun little moments of Ocean's Eleven, or allow much humor, or allow the banter we saw in the 2001 movie. Maybe it was the different tone of the movie, but those who loved 2001's Ocean's Eleven may see something good in Ocena's Twelve--though don't expect a great time.
Review of Ocean's Twelve
