The film Text copyright (c) Filmverdict 2006-present. Any film titles and artwork used are copyright of their respective owners.
One superlative to bestow upon Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001) would be slick. It exceeds everything you expect from a caper movie and delivers a hell of a lot more - the characters; visuals and the actual heist are all extremely well executed. Unfortunately, its star-saturated sequel dances dangerously close to chaotic. Andy Garcia's Terry Benedict (villain from Soderbergh's first instalment) wants his money back from the successful Las Vegas casino robbery and the opening sequence sees him indirectly gather Ocean's crew together to retrieve the $19 million they owe him each. Our token matinee idols, George Clooney and Brad Pitt pop up again, leading the troupe of precise thieves with an extra addition - Catherine Zeta-Jones' Agent Isobel Lahiri. Zeta-Jones is a quasi-villain, and in addition to Vincent Cassel's Night Fox, George Nolfi's script presents us with three obstacles for the team which makes for an unnecessarily bloated feel. An extra dosage of star power is always welcome in Hollywood films apart from when said stars are not utilised effectively. Zeta-Jones never ventures above or below mediocre and the whole film suffers as a result - her character adds uneasy complication to the whole jaunt, her subplot with Pitt's Rusty contributes most to the muddled script, and the solution with Albert Finney's Gaspar LeMarque is nowhere near as heart-warming as it should be. Cassel is everything you imagine from the talented Frenchman and his character is a decent endeavour at villainy, but the actor's qualities could be used in another film as the sole felon without Garcia and Zeta-Jones, who are seemingly there to cancel out the charm of his portrayal. Bruce Willis' cameo with Julia Roberts' Tess Ocean impersonating Julia Roberts continues to be the most memorable scene of the film for casual cinemagoers however. Problematically, it's never joyous to see people playing themselves in such an unfunny in-joke manner. Granted, Matt Damon's Linus Caldwell holds the infamous scene together with his timing, just like he does with the whole film, especially the Led Zeppelin "Kashmir" monologue, but the entire idea is an unnecessary attempt at over-exposure with this being the epitome of a film that doesn't need it in the slightest.
Implausibility is the film's biggest downfall however. Without visiting spoiler territory, certain incidents occur which are completely superfluous. One has to ask why the final act of the film happens if François Toulour has already been outsmarted? Soderbergh has seemingly wasted a lot of celluloid for no actual reason as he negates everything which has preceded the farcical and cheated nature of the finale. Clooney and co. illustrate a half-hearted excursion in European locales which, along with the first chapter, had the potential of becoming the textbook for intrigue, tension and most importantly, logic in the escapade genre. However, the blurred reality is a film not even half as rewarding as the first. The egos of the stars, mainly to look good on the silver screen and wrestle the most camera time from each other, sacrifice the film's overall aesthetic appeal.
The extras
Trailer.
The summary
Unfortunately lacking in every department compared to its predecessor, Ocean's Twelve is certainly a disappointing sequel but definitely not a complete disaster. Worth a look if one approves of the blatant star quality but do not expect a hoot-a-minute or a hugely engaging film.
