Back in Vegas to break the Bank

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2017)

After the events of the previous films the gang are now going straight. One of them, Ruben, is even starting his own casino in Las Vegas unfortunately his business partner Willy Banks cons him out of his half of the business and seems to find it funny when Ruben collapses and is hospitalised. Danny Ocean decides that they must get back together and take Banks for everything he's got. This won't be a conventional heist; they intend to rig a number of games so that the casino will have to pay out a massive $500,000,000 on its opening night. Since it is so personal for them they are also determined to ensure that the casino doesn't win the prestigious 'Five Diamonds' award for this casino and steal the four diamond necklaces he had made to represent the awards won by his other casinos. Obviously none of this will be easy.
This is a decent enough conclusion to the Ocean's trilogy; I liked the fact that it went back to its roots in Las Vegas without becoming a remake of the original film. The plot is obviously very far-fetched but that isn't really a problem if you can suspend your disbelief. There are plenty of good laughs, most notably their efforts to make sure the casino doesn't win the Five Diamonds by tormenting the reviewer and the way the man responsible for infiltrating the factory that makes the dice for the casino to rig them starts a strike over workers' pay, nearly spoiling the gang's plans. There are moments of tension as the plan moves into operation although I doubt many viewers will think they might ultimately fail. Most of the regular cast make a welcome return although Julia Roberts is missing, which was a pity. Al Pacino is suitably unpleasant as Willy Banks; a character it is easy to dislike. Overall I'd say this wasn't quite as good as 'Eleven' but it was a definite step up from 'Twelve'; definitely worth watching if you enjoyed the first film.