'Ocean's' is back to doing what it does best.

Rating: 7/10 (2 March 2019)

After an awkward middle entry, 'Ocean's' is back to doing what it does best: engage you in a thrilling heist filled with twists as well as plans for every eventuality. But this time, it's personal. Yes, after a beloved member of Ocean's team, Rueben, is conned out of his investment in a new casino by Willy Bank and has a heart attack as a result, the team decide to make Mr. Bank pay, literally and figuratively, by making his new casino pay out tremendous amounts of money to its patrons on opening night. It's a compelling setup, largely due to the fact that I have grown to become attached to these characters over the course of three films and therefore felt an immense amount of satisfaction watching the 'Eleven' stick it to Mr. Bank. And sure, the idea of another casino heist might seem blasé to fans of the first film. But considering the disastrous attempt at a change in formula with 'Ocean's Thirteen', at least based on the critical response, it's understandable why a 'return-to-form' was made.
So pretty much everything I liked about 'Ocean's Eleven' - the heist plan itself, the characters, the music, the humour, the dialogue - is present in 'Ocean's Thirteen' and it's all great stuff. Not to mention, we get to see Eddie Izzard as Nagel in a more prominent role than in 'Ocean's Twelve' (which is great for me, 'cause I like Eddie Izzard) as well as the glorious Al Pacino in a scenery-chewing, wonderfully brash and brazen performance as Willy Bank, the 'mark' that Ocean's team is after. And the film also has the best editing in the trilogy with (almost) no weird edits at all! Although, it's hard not to feel like you're just watching an overhauled rehash of the first film. Don't get me wrong, it's still enjoyable - but it still has the impression of a rehash all the same considering many of the same elements and 'setups' are here. For example, a seasoned 'Ocean's' viewer knows when the "Gotcha!" moments are coming, so they don't have quite as much of a punch to them as they did in the first film. Take for example, the reveal that the FBI agent who apparently arrests Linus, one of Ocean's eleven, is actually Linus' father. The film plays it tongue-in-cheek with a wink to the audience as if to say, "Bet you didn't see that one coming!"...except we absolutely did.
Overall: 7/10, maybe mid-high 6 or low-mid 7.