Does Soderbergh Capture the Same Magic With Ocean's Twelve?
Written: Dec 13 '04 (Updated Jun 08 '07)
Product Rating:
Pros: Cast. Entertaining movie.
Cons: Jerky camera work in places. Some of the cast not used enough.
The Bottom Line: Ocean's Twelve wasn't as good as Ocean's Eleven, but it was entertaining. People who liked the first movie might like this one as well.
In December of 2001, a new version of Ocean's Eleven was released. The movie featured several big names like George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Julia Roberts. I saw the movie in the theater, have the DVD, and have watched it several times. I love that movie. I think I first heard that there would be a sequel sometime in 2003. I have been looking forward to seeing Ocean's Twelve for months. I had a feeling that it wouldn't be as good as Ocean's Eleven going in, and I was right. I still enjoyed the movie though.
In discussing Ocean's Twelve, I will mention a few things that could be spoilers for Ocean's Eleven for people who haven't already seen that movie.
Danny Ocean and Tess got remarried and it was there second third anniversary. Tess was home alone, talking to Danny on the phone, when Terry Benedict showed up. He finally managed to find Danny. Terry wanted his money back plus interest. Everybody went their own way after robbing Benedict's casinos. Terry found all eleven of them. He was giving them two weeks to pay him back. They got together to figure out how much they were short on paying Terry back and to come up with a plan. They were too well known in the States to pull another job there, so they decided to head to Europe. Rusty already had them all booked on a flight to Amsterdam. Frank was concerned about their destination because he knew something that Rusty was keeping from the rest of the group.
Rusty and Danny took Linus to a meeting with a man who they hoped would help them line up a high paying job. He accidentally messed up, so Danny and Rusty finished the meeting alone. They ended up with a job that wouldn't pay anywhere near enough, but if they were successful, they would get a much bigger job the next week. Rusty was a bit distracted with the planning. His former girlfriend, Isabel, was living in Amsterdam. She was an agent for Europol. She had been investigating a job Rusty had pulled when their relationship ended. Rusty and Danny came up with a plan, but something went wrong. A thief that was known as the Night Fox had been pulling big jobs all around Europe for years. He caused some complications. He had told Terry where to find all the guys. Isabel dropped by to see Rusty and the other guys found out about their history.
The Night Fox thought he was a better thief and he issued Danny a challenge. They would both try to steal the same object by Terry's deadline. If Danny succeeded, the debt to Terry would be taken care of. The men start planning. Isabel was watching Rusty and figured out what their intended target was. Other complications popped up and Tess ended up playing a part in the job.
There was a lot going on in Ocean's Twelve. I only touched on a few of the things that happened. All the characters from the first movie returned, and there were a few new characters added this time as well. The story did jump around a bit going from character to character to show some of the different things that were going on with the different characters. That happened to some extent in Ocean's Eleven, but I think it was done better in that movie. This one didn't seem to flow as well. The movie took a little while to get to the main plot because time was spent at the beginning to show Terry confronting each man in some way. The plot was different from the first movie, though there were some connections to it. Terry turned up again wanting his money back. That job was mentioned more than once. This movie could stand on it's own, but certain things would make more sense if Ocean's Eleven was seen first. I figured out a few things ahead of time, but there were other things that were surprising to me. Tess's part in the plan was something I didn't expect, especially what she did. I thought that was very clever. There was a little bit of action in a few scenes of the movie, but it isn't what I would consider an action movie. It was just a fun, entertaining movie. Several little things that were added here and there throughout the movie made me laugh.
In Ocean's Eleven, Danny planned a job without being completely honest to the other men he would be working with. His relationship with Tess had ended before the movie started. Danny knew that Tess had become involved with the man Danny was targeting. That did cause some trouble once the rest of the group found out. This time, Rusty was the one with the ex-girlfriend that ended up involved in what was going on. Rusty knew Isabel was in Amsterdam. Frank knew about her and was concerned about where they were going. Isabel popped up to see Rusty, which let the others in on their past. They weren't happy that Rusty kept his past with Isabel a secret, especially since she was an Europol agent. Her involvement did cause some complications. Isabel ended up being a rather important character. She was around a lot more than Tess was in the first movie. Isabel was around more in this movie than some of the returning characters. Rusty and Isabel's relationship hadn't ended well because of a job Rusty had pulled. Their relationship was complicated, much like Danny and Tess's had been. I really liked Rusty in the first movie. I enjoyed that he had a possible love interest this time that was complicating his life.
Flashbacks were used at different times throughout the movie. It actually started with one showing how Rusty ended the relationship with Isabel. Later on some other flashbacks showed other aspects of Rusty and Isabel's relationship. There were only a few that dealt with their relationship. Other flashbacks showed how certain things were done after the fact. That technique was used in Ocean's Eleven. It was used a little more in this movie, but I didn't feel like they were over used. I wasn't bothered by the flashbacks. They did help to illustrate some things that happened. The first flashback happened three and a half years before the events in the movie took place. Another of the flashbacks took place a month before. The movie only covered two weeks, so it was fairly fast paced, but it wasn't rushed. Every so often the day would be stated on the screen, along with how many days were left until the deadline Terry gave.
Several different cities were locations for Ocean's Twelve. The men were all living in different cities when Terry found them. They were briefly shown when Terry confronted them, but really nothing of the cities was shown. Most of the movie took place in Amsterdam and Rome. There were some nice locations used in those cities, but they didn't seem to play as much into the plot as Las Vegas did before. The movie did jump around to the different locations, especially at the beginning when it was showing where all the men were. Every time it switched to a new city, the name of the city was displayed on the screen, so it was easy to keep track of where the characters were at a certain time.
The picture was very jerky in several scenes, making me think that a hand-held camera was used in at least some of the shots. The picture was bouncing around at times, and in one scene in particular, it was so bad it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. I don't like it when the picture is all jerky because that makes it too difficult to see what is going on in certain scenes. It also bothers my eyes. I was disappointed to see this sort of thing in this movie. I find it annoying and wish directors would stop doing it. The technique doesn't improve the movies. It makes them worse. It wasn't as bad in this movie as it was in some others, but it did still bug me. Soderbergh used some interesting camera angles as well. One shot was sideways. That was rather strange, but it didn't last too long. The color and lighting varied in different scenes, though it wasn't anything strange. Black and white was briefly used as well. Music played throughout the movie. It sounded much like the music that was used in Ocean's Eleven. It fit in with the movie fine. Part of a Neil Diamond song was playing during one scene. I recognized the song, but I couldn't think of the name of it.
All the characters that were involved in the job in Ocean's Eleven, including Terry Benedict, returned. Some of them had very little to do. Terry showed up in the beginning when he found the men and gave them the deadline. In a few of those scenes, he didn't even talk to the men. He had a cane for some reason this time, and he tended to poke at people with it. His part was much smaller. It is a shame that Andy Garcia didn't get more to do. He was great in the first movie and could have been great again if he'd had more to work with. I knew he was going to be in this movie, and I expected him to have a bigger part than he did. Something happened that kept Frank from participating in most of the groups plans. That didn't bother me as much since Bernie Mac gets on my nerves at times. Virgil and Turk Malloy weren't shown too much. They still ended up bickering over silly things. Livingston Dell turned up here and there. Basher had a lot less to do this time as well. I enjoyed his character in the first one, so that was a bit disappointing to me. Carl Reiner was in much less of the movie as Sal. I saw a special about the movie that explained that his part was originally much bigger. He requested a smaller part because he didn't want to be away from his wife for as long. Reuben was around in many scenes, though he wasn't doing too much in them. Elliot Gould was fine in the part. Reuben tended to wear some interesting clothes. Yen was another character that was around, but not doing too much at times.
Linus asked to have more to do on the new job, and he did end up with a bit more responsibility. Matt Damon was good in the part. He may have had about the same amount of screen time as he did in the first movie. Danny was in a lot of the movie, but I think he had a little less screen time as well. Tess wasn't in very much of the movie, but I was expecting that since she hadn't been in much of Ocean's Eleven.
It seemed like there was some more focus on Rusty this time. I really like that character, and I think Brad Pitt was great. The character still had the same little quirks he had in the first movie. He was shown eating in several scenes again, though that may have happened a bit less. Rusty and Danny still had the same chemistry they had the first time. The scenes between them were great. Isabel was one of the new characters, and she got more time than many other characters. I think the reason why some of the other characters got such a small amount of screen time was so more could be devoted to her. I liked the character, and I did enjoy her interactions with Rusty. Catherine Zeta-Jones was good in the part.
Vincent Cassel also played a new character. He did fine with his scenes. There were a few cameos, including a repeat visit from Topher Grace. His part was even smaller than the short cameo he had in Ocean's Eleven. One of the other cameos was a bit longer and tied in with Tess's part in the job. I liked that the entire cast was back, but it was disappointing that some of them had so little to do. Since there were so many characters, there wasn't much development for any of them. Several of the characters ended up being rather flat. It would have been nice if there had been more character development, but I still enjoyed the movie.
I'm only going to mention a few of the characters since most of them didn't have too much to do in the movie.
CHARACTERS
Danny Ocean - He was a retired thief trying to have a normal life with is wife Tess. He got pulled back into crime because he had to repay a previous mark.
Tess - Danny's wife. She understood why Danny went to Europe for the job. She ended up going over as well and even played a part in the plan.
Rusty - He owned a hotel and was having trouble with it. He made the decision for the group to head to Amsterdam. He kept a few secrets from the other men. He came up with some unique ideas.
Isabel - She was an Europol detective and Rusty's ex-girlfriend. When she realized that he was in Amsterdam, she figured he was planning something. She wanted to catch him and the others. She was so determined to make the arrest that she did some questionable things.
Terry Benedict - He owned three casinos in Las Vegas that Danny and the others robbed three years ago. Terry was a vindictive man. He wanted his money back even though the insurance company paid him back.
CAST
Casey Affleck - Virgil Malloy
Scott Caan - Turk Malloy
Vincent Cassel - Francois Toulour
Don Cheadle - Basher
George Clooney - Danny Ocean
Matt Damon - Linus
Andy Garcia - Terry Benedict
Elliot Gould - Reuben
Eddie Jemison - Livingston Dell
Bernie Mac - Frank
Brad Pitt - Rusty Ryan
Shaobo Qin - Yen
Carl Reiner - Saul Bloom
Julia Roberts - Tess
Catherine Zeta-Jones - Isabel
Ocean's Twelve was released on December 10, 2004. The movie was two hours long and rated PG-13. I think the word that rhymes with luck was used once. There really wasn't anything offensive in the movie. It would probably be all right for older children to see, if they would stay interested in the movie.
Ocean's Twelve wasn't as good as Ocean's Eleven, but the movie was still entertaining for me. I enjoyed seeing the characters again. I had been wanting to see the movie for a long time, but I managed to keep my expectations from getting to high. It is common for sequels to not be as good as the first movies, so I did expect that this one wouldn't be as good. If that is kept in mind, people who enjoyed the first movie may also find something to like about this movie.
This is one I would have rated three and a half stars if I had the option. Since I don't, I rounded up to four stars.
Back in slick style OCEAN'S TWELVE reintroduces Ocean George Clooney and his perfectly trained team of con men who are determined to take on Europe. D...More at Family Video
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