Who Say The Number 13 Has to be Bad

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2009)

After many disappointing threequels, this one does represent that "Ocean's Thirteen" third entry to the series is a charm. It great to see Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his posse back in the action for another robbery, only this time it's much more personal over casual. Al Pacino stars as Willy Bank, a powerful Las Vegas casino owner who partners up with Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould)to build a new new casino, but heads start to turn as Bank betrays Tishkoff and throws him of the partnership leaving him with absolutely nothing. After a series of verbal squabbling, Bank tells Tishkoff to "go screw yourself." This leads Mr. Ocean and his gang to bring down Bank for what he did in what is to be the ultimate heist for Ocean and the gang.
Members of the gang including Basher (Don Chedle) and the Malloy Brothers (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan) would rather have Bank's head on a silver platter. But that would be too easy for Ocean's gang and not much fun either. Instead they've plotted to get back at Bank and his Casino by toiling with the games so that one one wins in his casino and eventually will leave Bank bankrupt (no pun intended). Though the plan looks fun and easy, there is a slight burden to this diabolical plan. A security device called "The Greco" can spot gamblers if they're rigging the casino. This device can track a person's heartbeat or other quirky affliction to determine whether the gambling is done legally or illegally. So seemingly impossible to take down, the Greco, Ocean needs plenty of resources and hordes of cash in order to achieve this impossible mission to take down this security device. Fellow Ocean member Linus Caldwell (Matt Domon), suggests to Ocean to ask an old nemesis from the past, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) to put their differences in the past and to back them up financially.
This is a pivotal and remarkable addition to the series that every fan of the series will get a kick out of. People were very upset about the previous outing "Ocean's Twelve" mainly because it wasn't intended to a sequel to it's predecessor "Ocean's Eleven". Here it revitalizes what made the "Ocean Eleven" a classic. Twelve is an even balance between Eleven and Thirteen, with "Ocean's Thirteen" being by far the best of the series. It certainly interesting that director Steven Soderbergh has created a movie where we're able to sympathize with con artists, making casino bosses, as evil villains with their mind set on power and corruption.
Another reason why this addition stands out is the performance of Al Pacino. When was this guy ever in a bad movie? His character depths have always stood the test of time and in "Ocean's Thirteen" it's no exception. Chalk up another great portrayal for Pacino who if it were another actor, the role of Willy Bank would've been clichéd, but Pacino made sure that wasn't the case. Whether he's playing good guys or evil-doers you can always depend on Al Pacino to make every movie he's in all the more riveting.