The gangs are all here, yet again...

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2007)

The gang is back for a third round. After stealing from Mr. Benedict in "Ocean's Eleven" and then having to pay him back in "Ocean's Twelve", what's next? This time, it is not for the money or the girl, but for vengeance.
Their next victim is an ego driven hotel manager Willy Banks (Al Pacino). When one of Ocean's eleven players, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), decides to do business with Banks, he cuts him out of a heavy deal, which lands Reuben in the hospital from a sudden heart attack. So the players join together to rebuild Reuben's share of the hotel with what they know besta multimillion dollar theft from Bank's hotel.
Once again, it is the "nice guys" against the "mean guys". I wouldn't call it "good guys" vs. "bad guys" because Ocean and his players are thieves, but they are pleasant people. Helping out a friend is not a common characteristic of a normal thief, and besides, they're charming, hysterical, and handsome fellows.
Watching Ocean and all his players again on the big screen was a hearty joy. Observing their various schemes and how they pull off the heist was very entertaining, making a satisfying two hour film go by quickly. The momentary moments of Andy Garcia on the screen as Mr. Benedict were also fun. Although, a new light of Al Pacino as Banks was shown on the screen as a ruthless and heartless "butthead" surprised me. Perhaps I haven't seen enough movies of Al. He was still excellent as he always is in his roles.
However, I missed the appearances of Julie Roberts as Tess, and Catherine Zeta-Jones from "Ocean's Twelve" as Isabel. It was all the guys this time. And there was one thing that bothered me at the end of the film.
After their victory, all of them pulled out cigars and puffed away. Okay, I know having a cigar after doing a deal is a common thing that guys do, but why glamorize it, especially in theaters, which can promote youths to smoking? Which is even worse is the fact that after Reuben recovered from his heart attack; he too was puffing away with them, as if saying "Okay, give me another heart attack." That's a slap in the face to the cardiologist! Cigarettes maybe banned from commercial advertisement, but having movies, like this restarts, this advertisement showing cool guys puffing away. It was an entertaining film and a good second sequel. Finale statement, it was better than the second, but not nearly as good as the first one. 8/10