Ocean's Twelve

Three years after Ocean's Eleven the gang's all back for more in this sequel. This time around the elusive group of thieves and con artists reunite and travel abroad to Europe to try and pull off another elaborate heist after vengeful casino mogul Terry Benedict (García) tracks them down looking for reimbursement. Little do they dream that they'll face stiff competition from a self-proclaimed criminal mastermind (Cassel) who's determined to try and upstage them. The latest in a long line of tepid Hollywood sequels; the cast may have had fun making this film but that doesn't mean the audience will as it drags on for over two hours with endless story lulls, self-conscious humor, and banal dialogue. One particularly embarrassing in-joke falls flat and leaves you wondering just how desperate the producers were to earn cheap laughs. The same group of gifted actors that made the original so special are wasted here, as the needlessly inextricable "script" lacks any wit, style, or sense of purpose. **

Lacking the freshness of the original and going a bit overboard with its twists n turns, the follow-up chapter to Ocean's Eleven does exhibit the lavish look & carefree vibe of its predecessor and adds a couple more charismatic actors to its ensemble but its story is weak and only gets messier as it progresses.

Taking place some time after the events of the previous film, Ocean's Twelve brings back all the members of the original team as they battle against time to pay back all the money they stole from the owner of Las Vegas casinos, with interest. To meet the demand, they decide to pull off another heist, however, there's a new player in town.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film picks up from where it left off in the last picture and doesn't take long to bring all of them back into the same room. The basic storyline is interesting but how the events unfold in the final print is where the problem arises, not to mention that the subplots relating to new characters don't add anything of significance.

The sumptuous look n feel is retained and the European scenery is beautifully photographed. The smart manoeuvring of camera & refined use of colour palette adds a vibrant quality to its images. Editing is a mixed bag, however, as the numerous twists don't carry the same weight and appears forced into the narrative. And the background score doesn't have anything new to add either.

Coming to the performances, pretty much the entire cast of Ocean's Eleven make their appearance in this one with Clooney & Pitt leading the pack like before while the new additions include Vincent Cassel & Catherine Zeta-Jones who play their part responsibly but their respective characters are very poorly sketched. Roberts however gets additional screen time and is able to improve on her earlier input.

On an overall scale, Ocean's Twelve is an inferior sequel by all means that does take the arcs of its characters a little forward but doesn't add anything of substance. What's also disappointing is the climax that's far more ridiculous this time and seems way far-fetched than it did the last time. Still, there's some fun, laughs & amusement in store but if you're expecting a sequel that improves upon the original, then Ocean's Twelve isn't one of those.

A heist movie works on the premise that the audience is in on the heist. We dread the incredible security measures. We get to see the planning and the development. We marvel at the skills of each expert. We experience the same suspense and drama as the characters. Ocean's Twelve discards all these elements in favor of creative editing, avant garde camera work and superficial writing. It tries to extract great performances from so-so actors. O.K. so they all are beautiful people. That doesn't mean they are automatically the best actors. It doesn't mean that they can carry a film on their performances. Clooney and Pitt are no Newman and Redford. The acting talents of Catherince Zeta-Jones have never been anything to write home about. Only Finney in a tiny cameo draws any real emotion from the audience.

The best heist movies have real suspense. This film has none. The outcome is never in doubt. No matter how the surface of the plan is seemingly foiled...everyone is in on the far deeper "actual" plan.

On major problem is Garcia's character.

If the original "11" successfully pulled off the job we are made to believe they did in the first film, they wouldn't panic and crumble like a house of cards to Benedict's pressure and scare tactics. In fact, once a member of the cadre had been contacted, survelliance would have captured Benedict's strong arm tactics and bellicose threats immediately. The man would have legal challenges beyond belief.

It's not enough to know who robbed you. You must have proof, otherwise the worst threats would be a laughing matter for seasoned pros.

The 2001 remake of Lewis Milestone's "Ocean's Eleven" is a good adventure, with action, comedy and thriller in an updated screenplay. When this sequel was released, I was impressed with the number of stars and locations mostly in Europe, and certainly a huge budget. Unfortunately, this movie does not have the most relevant component: a decent screenplay. The beginning is confused and most of the situations and dialogs are not funny, being indeed ridiculous; when the execution of the heist is disclosed in the end, it is ludicrous; and the absurd plot itself is totally unbelievable and does not work. The direction is also very bad, with horrible and weird movements of camera. Steven Soderbergh began his career with exceptional works, but his last films are very deceptive ("Full Frontal"(2002); "Solaris"(2002)). My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Doze Homens e Outro Segredo" ("Twelve Men and Other Secret")

This time the con is on the fans! This sequel is specifically made to make easy money and guess what it comes from you! no thought has gone into cooking up a story -no thought has gone into attempting to give any type of direction or even editing - just a bunch of superstar smarty pants have got together to figure out how much their star power can get them in their spare time. Of course since die-hard fans of Oceans 11 (such as myself) will have to see this movie even if it is to just believe how bad it really is its a no brainer for the producers to dish any hogwash onto our plates - its a well thought of commercial strategy but very cold blooded and callous on the fans. Its extremely painful to sit through - the best performance is by Matt Damon in one particular scene which is the highest point the movie ever reaches -I hope they make an Oceans 13 and really think of a nice story this time around as a sort of apology for their bad behavior this time - or bring out an apology to all the fans they conned!