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Ocean's
Twelve Movie Review:
However, things start out with some promise. Retired master thief Danny Ocean (George Clooney) plans to surprise his wife Tess (Julia Roberts) with an impressive anniversary present. Instead, he’s the one who gets the big surprise. Casino boss Terry Benedict (Garcia) insists that Danny and his gang pay back the 160 million dollars they stole from him in the first movie -- and he gives them only two weeks to do so. Because the thieves have spent most of their loot from the original heist, they must pull off another one to meet Terry’s demands. So far, so good. But from this point on, plot confusion and lazy pacing take over to subvert the film’s entertainment potential.
Burdened with the same baggage as “Ocean’s Eleven,” this sequel suffers from too may characters. Even with a running time of over two hours, “Ocean’s Twelve” can’t do justice to its star-packed cast. Along with Clooney and Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Scott Caan and Shabo Qin are back for a second big heist caper. In addition, Catherine Zeta-Jones appears as a Europol agent and Rusty’s (Pitt) former girlfriend, Vincent Cassel plays another master thief, and cameos (Bruce Willis, Robbie Coltrane, Albert Finney, Eddie Izzard, Topher Grace, Cherry Jones) are interspersed throughout.
Yes, everyone seems to be having a great time – it’s like one big in-group celebration. But not much worked for me here. I couldn’t help being appalled with sentences as well as scenes left unfinished, and I hated those trumpets and drums constantly assaulting my eardrums (an attempt to cover up the lack of excitement on screen?). Surprisingly, despite the film’s noisy soundtrack, the person sitting next to me dozed off frequently. Fortunately for him, he missed the unexplained shot of an airplane flying sideways. Maybe I’m being too picky, but cinematic gimmickry like that always bothers me.
On the
plus side, the European locations look gorgeous. Also, my
compliments to Matt Damon for at least trying to give his
character (the newest member of the gang who thinks he should
now have more influence) some semblance of humanity and
to the two actors who made me smile by portraying themselves
in the best part of “Ocean’s Twelve.”
And, even though the film’s trick ending seems farfetched,
it’s clever. It just didn’t come soon enough
for me. The assembly of such an impressive cast that “Ocean’s Eleven” had seemed to be only an act that a director like Robert Altman (“The Player” and “Short Cuts”) could accomplish. But do it twice, that’s unheard of. Well not for director Steven Soderbergh who brings back everyone from his smash hit “Ocean’s Eleven” and even adds a few.
The crew reassembles after they are tracked down by casino boss and madman Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Benedict threatens to kill all of them if they don’t pay back the $190 million dollars they stole from him in “Ocean’s Eleven” and the catch is that they have to do it in two weeks.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon) and the rest of the crew flee to Europe to try to pay back Benedict. But before the money can be assembled, Ocean’s crew must out-smart a slick European thief known as the Night Fox (Vincent Cassel) and match wits with the persistent Europol agent Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Can Ocean seal the deal in time and outwit, outlast and outplay some of the best in the business?
“Ocean’s Twelve” was written by George Nolfi who also wrote the sci-fi disaster “Timeline” but it seems that Nolfi has come a long way from that project. His script for this sequel is witty, crafty and adds more interesting details to a lot of the key players.
I really enjoyed how he handled a lot of the major characters but felt he really didn’t know what to deal with some of the minor and older characters played by Don Cheadle, Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner. For me, Reiner was one of my favorite characters from the original after Cheadle’s Basher, of course.
Another thing that really didn’t impress me was the lack of allure and goofiness that accompanied the first film. It was the comedy as well as the cleverness that sold so many on the first one.
I also felt that the original was more claustrophobic and more intimate than this film. There are a lot of ensemble pratfalls that this film runs into that you wonder why they actually needed to bring back every single one of the eleven stars from the first film. Sometimes less is more.
The final minutes of the film also lacked the awe and spectacle of the first film. I was hoping to be fooled or at least to be kept guessing.
There
are a lot of clever moments in this film and some of the
dialogue is quite hilarious. The film just doesn’t
play with every cast member properly and doesn’t hold
on to the magic of the first one. Clooney and Soderbergh reunite their pals for another caper comedy, some of which actually translate into entertaining cinema. This sequel is much more fragmented than the original, but it's also slightly more substantial in where it takes the characters. After being robbed of both money and his wife (Roberts), casino boss Terry Benedict (Garcia) wants revenge against Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his 10 thieving pals. To get him off their backs, they'll have to stage heists in Amsterdam, Paris and Rome. But another master thief (Cassel) always seems one step ahead of them. As does a government agent (Zeta-Jones), who has some messy romantic history with Ocean's sidekick Rusty (Pitt). It's clear from the beginning that this isn't as plot-driven as the first film. Yes, there's far more story here--constant twistings and turnings, with more new characters added every few minutes. But Soderbergh and crew don't even try to make sense of it all; they use the incoherent narrative as mere background for the on-screen antics and knowing jokes (including a ludicrous jab at Zeta-Jones' other heist movie Entrapment). So it's lucky for us that the film is stylish and a little edgy, and that the cast is so clearly having a great time. Some of the sequences work brilliantly, drawing out the best of the cast (Pitt, Damon and Cheadle get the strongest scenes), while others are badly sidelined (most notably Mac, but also Gould, Reiner and the "minor" team members Caan, Affleck and Qin). Roberts has the oddest role here--she's photographed unflatteringly and then bravely endures the film's most shameless (and extended) inside joke. Zeta-Jones adds class and spark, while Cassel gleefully gives the film a badly needed Eurotrash sensibility. Meanwhile, Soderbergh cuts between all these characters so quickly that we're only barely aware that he's not bothering to hold the story together at all. But it's not just us--the actors seem as lost as we do, making it up as they go along. But at least it's less smug than the first film, and there's a freewheeling sense of fun in the way the film breezes past one unconvincing twist after another.
Three years after Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his crew pulled off the heist that made them legendary in criminal circles, the man who was the target Terry Benedict (Garcia) has tracked them all down and he wants his money back, with interest. Far too well known to work in the US again, the eleven head for Europe and plan one more job that will clear their debt and save their lives but this time they might need one more member.
After the phenomenal success of the first movie, can ‘Ocean’s Twelve’ steal your attention or will it be caught lacking?
It is very rare that so many A-list stars ever get together to make a movie but ‘Ocean’s 11’ changed all that and George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and the rest of the crew loved it so much that they all return for the sequel. Under the direction of Steven Soderbergh again, the star studded ensemble come back with all the banter and camaraderie that made the first movie so good but unfortunately the excellent heist plotline has been stolen.
While the first movie built into a classic heist filled finale, with lots of twists and turns, the second film tries to do the same but it doesn’t quite have the same fluidity and sheer, edge of your seat enjoyment as the original. Again it jumps about, throwing in twist after twist but the final pay off is abit of a let down, making the climax not as satisfying as the first movie.
The major plus point of the movie however is the cast. This is a collection of friends coming together to have a great time and make a movie at the same time. The banter between them is as good as ever, especially the scenes with Matt Damon, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts. The dialogue just flows so naturally, you can tell that these megastars are genuine friends and the film benefits from it. The performances also reflect this as well, with the main characters growing even more likable and charming, making you feel a genuine affection of all of them. Julia Roberts and George Clooney continue their relationship as Tess and Danny. Matt Damon’s Linus Caldwell is still trying to gain the respect of Danny and especially Rusty and make a bigger contribution to the job. Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan is as cool as ever but could his weakness be the women he left behind in Rome. That woman is Isabel Lahiri, played by ‘Ocean’ newcomer Catherine Zeta Jones, who fits into the illustrious cast with the greatest of ease.
Unfortunately the supporting cast don’t have as much screen time as you would like. This might be Ocean’s twelve but only the A-list stars get the most screen time. In the first film, each character had their time in the limelight but in this one they are just there to make up the numbers. Carl Reiner, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan and Eddie Jemison have nothing really to do in this one and their characters suffer for it. Shaobo Qin as grease-man Yen, spends most of his time in a bag. Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia and Don Cheadle also suffer but they do have more screen time than the other members of the twelve. Newcomer Vincent Cassel fares a lot better as François Toulour, Danny Ocean’s new nemesis but even he could have done with more screen time.
‘Ocean’s Twelve’ might seem like an excuse for a group of friends to come together and make a movie but even with all its faults there is still a lot to enjoy. Yes it is self-indulgent and isn’t as well written as the first film but how often do you see as many stars on the big screen as this. The movie does just enough to steal your attention but it isn’t the really big score you may have been expecting.
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