Colorful homage to French Nouvelle Vague

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2005)

Soderbergh made "Ocean's Twelve" with the same budget as "Ocean's Eleven", and in doing so has created something more than a typical Hollywood sequel. He has created a hilarious film that also acts as a sort of love letter to the French New Wave.
Look at the jump cuts, the overlaid text, the meticulously designed plot, even the fact that it is filmed in Europe, and you can see the influence of Goddard and Melville. Even the twist is dripping with the New Wave. Soderbergh made a movie that screams out the fact that it IS a movie. It almost seems like, knowing that the movie would be judged against the greatness of the first film, decided to go all out, adding interesting techniques that aren't often seen in American movies, and even coming up with a new and inventive way to film an airplane.
Though some complained about the convoluted plot, I found it easy enough to follow, and found the movie very funny. Overall, I would say it's another great film from one of the new American masters.