They pulled off one of the biggest heists ever and now they have another job to complete. Oceans Eleven which consisted off Danny Ocean (Clooney) Rusty Ryan (Pitt) and Linus Caldwell (Damon) and others all thought they would be able to enjoy their money but someone has other plans. Terry Benedict (Garcia) is still fuming after losing his money and wants it back. The team now have the job of getting all the money they spent back or risk being thrown in jail. How are they going to get it all back By pulling off another amazing plan.
Review
Three years ago Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his team stole 160 million dollars from Terry Benedict (Garcia). Now Benedict wants his money back. Plus interest. Thus Ocean and his crew must scramble together what they owe too hot to work in America they set their sights on Amsterdam.... where not so coincidently Rusty Ryan (Pitt) has an exlove (ZetaJones) who just so happens to be head of police and hot on their trail. But Benedict and sexy cop Isabel Lahiri (ZetaJones) arent the crews only problem. Another thief under the alias of "nightfox" ( Vincent Cassel) is keen to battle it out with Ocean and his team to decide who the best thief (or thieves) are.
And there you have Oceans 12 a film which falls too short in terms of wit appearance plot... and pretty much everything else in comparison to the original Oceans 11.
One thing must be made clear however the cast is great. Spectacular really. There is a definite and rare chemistry between everyone even Catherina ZetaJones newcomer to the Soderbergh film. And it is indeed very rare to jampack a film with so many big name celebs without the film being ruined by too much star power and not enough of anything else. And these films do indeed have A lot of Hollywood star power in them Julia Roberts George Clooney Brad Pitt Matt Damon Catherina Zeta Jones Bernie Mac Andy Garcia Don Cheadle... just to name the biggest names. And watching Oceans 11 you can tell that the crew enjoyed making this film. Unfortunately the audience may not gain the same pleasure as the actors did....
If you were like me absolutely blown away by the chic and jazzy first film then Oceans 12 will be a disappointment. The first movie was simply classy. All of the shots every single take camera angles were all very cleancut solid and very stylish. In this film however Soderbergh decides to use the currently popular shaky cam technique for some scenes. I can understand why. In this film unlike the first one the crew havent had time to plan to perfection their pull. In this film its a mad rush to meet Benedicts deadline and I suppose Soderbergh wanted to get that rashness and disorientation across. But it wrecks the film. He really should have stuck to his original idea of having it all snazzy bold and clean. Plus it is confusing when the film snaps between past and present to explain how the crew made some of their robberies it looks messy and ugly to change between shaky cam to the bolder scenes.
Secondly the laughs are fewer in 12 and the script is duller. Oceans 11 had a quickwit and many a memorable line. Oceans 12 has to sink so low as to throw in an age joke for Clooney "Do i look 50". The plot is predictable from Julia Roberts impersonation to the crews great escape. Its all very blunt and can be spotted a mile away. And the summing up of the pull is a little confusing past tense (theres that shaky cam again!). I cant give too much away but my personal opinion is that the explanation of how the team pulled of the robbery is a little confusing and a sort of "huh" moment which you will need to disucss with others who have seen the film to make sure you absolutely understood everything.
All in all the film is a let down. By all means go and see it if for no other reason than to drool over the gorgeous Matt Damon Brad Pitt and George Clooney.... But do not get your hopes up. As the credits roll you will find yourself feeling cheated somehow. Oceans 11 was a real gem but Oceans 12 just leaves you pining for the original.... 5.510