Over the top and off paced

Rating: 4/10 (4 July 2016)

Ocean's Twelve is the sequel to the hit film Ocean's Eleven released in 2001. Starting into the film, it takes place where the crew flies to Europe in an attempt to pull off quick heists in order to pay off Benedict. There, they find out they are up against a mysterious character who is thwarting their plans for some unknown reason. They have to find this person and stop him before Benedict's deadline. They are also being pursued by a clever detective, Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), who is close to arresting them. I was willing to put up with this unbelievable nonsense for a time, but my breaking point came when the film actually has Julia Roberts portraying Tess Ocean, who, in turn is portraying Julia Roberts as part of a plot to get close to a guarded treasure in a museum. I don't think this could ever work, but in order for it to have a chance, wouldn't Julia Roberts have to at least establish the character of Tess Ocean first? It ruined the film as a whole and became quite over the top and silly at this point.
One of the things you need in order to have a successful heist movie is a good heist, or a good confidence scheme. Here, the big heist at the end of the movie turns out to be an afterthought. It is a throwaway heist shown as a flashback. The acting is casual, at best. The big problem is screen time. There is only enough of it for Clooney, Pitt and Matt Damon. Most of the others in the all-star cast, like Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould, Carl Reiner, Andy Garcia and Roberts, have very limited roles.