Ocean's Thirteen: an actually decent 3-quel

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2007)

After Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Shrek the Third proved to be disappointing, I lowered my expectations for Ocean's 13 by, well, a lot. Maybe that was a good thing- especially after the scathing review in Time magazine. So when I saw the movie on Friday night, I was pleasantly surprised.
I already can't recall much of the plot. It was complicated. Like Pirates, the Oceans movies just seem to keep getting more confusing and slicker. Basically, Reuben (Gould) makes a deal with Willie Bank ( a really tan and orange-y Pacino), a sneaky and scheming casino owner. Danny (Clooney) tries to talk Reuben out of it, but Reuben doesn't listen and Bank screws him over, leaving him with nothing. Reuben goes into shock and winds up with this weird medical condition, kind of like a stroke or coma or something. The entire crew wants him to get back to being himself, and they decide that Bank has to pay. The scheme: sabotage the opening of Bank's casino. They want him to hurt- no, devastate- his ego, making him lose millions during the Grand Opening and not get the Five Diamond Award. Sounds simple enough- until they consider the security. This is where you get lost. The crew basically has to combat this super security system and they have to cause a virtual earthquake to shut down the power, trick the dice, fix all of the games, fix some of the slots, seduce Bank's right-hand women (Barkin), and practically torture a poor hotel reviewer. Oh, and then when they need around $36 million to fund the earthquake, Linus (Damon) suggests turning to, yes, Terry Benedict (Garcia).
So that's basically what happens. And in the end, it works. Sometimes the plot drags and is slow, but most of the time you're completely hooked (or at least I was). There are some really funny moments, like when Rusty and Danny watch Oprah. This movie is definitely more like the first one concerning style and things like that. The Las Vegas vibe adds so much to the movies and the plot focuses more on the other guys, not just Danny, Rusty, and Linus. I don't think there was enough of Basher, but there was this great scene with him and Banks. And the Mormon twins were excellent. They were hysterical, and even a Mexican subplot works. The acting was pretty good overall, and they clearly weren't trying too hard. (By the way, Tess and Isabel (from Ocean's 12). When I heard about this at first, I was worried. But during the movie, you don't really miss them.) The only thing that irked me was some of the filming. Sometimes the camera was moving too much or they had the split screen and it was dizzying. And everything seemed to have like, I don't know, an orange-y glow. It was very slick, and not always in a good way.
Ocean's Thirteen is a nice, shiny package. Yes, it's a little flamboyant, over-the-top, and silly, but it's so much fun. You can tell everyone had a great time during filming- the energy comes through the screen, something that was lacking in Twelve. Don't except too much from it or take it to seriously. The movie is simply a fun summer treat.