Ocean's Twelve

When I first saw “Ocean’s Twelve”, I liked it. I felt I needed to watch it more so as to understand the plot and now that I do, I still don’t mind the movie. I can see how people would be indifferent towards it but that is because it has a very complicated story when compared to the first film. The non-linear plot is an obvious difference. The sequel works though because of the twists during the story, the returning & new cast members and of course Steve Soderbergh’s style (who has become even more creative when telling this story). When I first saw the film, I knew the team wanted to be put in jail but I could not figure out how they would escape and do it legally. The twist at the end is resolving but the fun in this film is much less than the first film.

Probably why this film is hard to enjoy as much as the first is because the story keeps getting bigger. At first, it’s about Danny and the guys trying to pay Benedict back before an impossible deadline. Then Toulour is introduced as the thief who broke rule number one and a contest with him is begun. By the end, we come to understand that the story is even bigger than that. LeMarc is trying to get his daughter back and the egg that he was forced to return. He makes things easy for Danny and his team during the contest but they still have to go through a big charade so LaMarc can get want he wants and so that Toulour can be humiliated. The heist is personal just like last time but this time Rusty is also after something he lost. His best chance of getting Isabel back is to reunite her with her father. Neither of those wishes can happen if she is still a detective and it appears like the six-day charade is what that is all about; they are pushing her to do whatever it takes to catch them. The film reintroduces our favorite characters at the start and you are effectively reminded of who they are and what you liked about them in the first film. I love how Danny, Rusty and even Matsui play Linus, who they know is not ready to take a leadership role. It is another funny surprise at the end of the film. As I see it, the Matsui scene is similar to the celebrity card game in "Ocean's Eleven". I like scenes in movies where it feels like all hope is lost because it creates a lot of drama. Once there is only Linus, Basher and Virgil, we get that kind of moment. It turns out in the end though that they are not trying to steal the egg but rather force Isabel to continue exploiting that forged document she signed. Another possibility is that part of the team’s plan was to get Tess to be arrested with all of them so that she would be safe from Benedict. “Ocean’s Twelve” is a non-linear film as mentioned and that makes it a little hard to enjoy it as much as “Ocean’s Eleven”. We gradually understand what the story is all about and the whole six-day charade once revealed to the audience might be a let down. In the first film we were only lost on one thing: the exit strategy. That is the case with this sequel until the end when the revelations actually confuse us more than relieves us. Brusier’s brief appearance is very welcome. Unlike others, I love the Julia Roberts joke because it gets funnier as time goes on. Bruce Willis making a cameo as himself was way too funny. When he surprises Tess and Linus, their reactions feel so genuine that it is even funnier. Just when it can’t get any funnier or worse, Saul shows up to save the day. I love the conversations in the museum about “The Sixth Sense”. As mentioned earlier, it is a big story with a lot going on and so the film is hard to understand fully the first time.

Again, we have Soderbergh’s style to entertain us. The Van der Woude discussion scenes are good because one scene is hand-held and there is a lot of off-screen lines and conversation in both scenes. The introduction of Toulour uses similar elements that make it a good montage. When we change locations in the movie, there are very cinematic establishing shots. Once again, we have good music from David Holmes. Catherine Zeta-Jones did well in the film also. Seeing as how Vincent Cassel was the voice of Monsieur Hood in “Shrek”, I like him as Toulour. Seeing Robbie Coltrane without his Hagrid costume was so cool. This film also introduced me to Eddie Izzard. I did enjoy “Ocean’s Twelve” because of the ending and humor but ultimately and more importantly, the fun of this movie is much less than on “Ocean’s Eleven”. Our heroes are trying to solve a massive problem that has been thrown upon them rather than attempt a “simple” robbery. Fortunately, the film is good because of story twists, the cast and the style. Even better is the fact that the franchise is a trilogy and things end off where they all began.

4 Stars out of 5