Not as entertaining as "Ocean's Eleven"

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2007)

The film starts strong, catching us up with each member of the gang and letting us see what he's done with his cut of the $160 million. There are some good character bits here, and the same sort of loose, smart patter that worked so well in the first film. Savor those moments, because the rest of the film doesn't have enough of them. Once the gang is reunited and working to steal the money they need, the plot mechanics take over and we're subjected to a dizzying series of flashbacks and too many scenes of Isabel Lahiri (Zeta-Jones) a Europol detective who has history with several of the gang and a superhuman deductive ability.
Clooney and Pitt retain the suave chemistry they had in the first film, and, along with Damon, they all display their good-natured ability to send themselves up. The rest of the eleven also reinvest their characters with their unique ticks and quirks, but Garcia spikes Benedict way too over the top. Zeta-Jones adds the requisite glamour and Cassel adds the French accent.
"Ocean's Twelve" provides some nice scenery in Amsterdam and Lake Como. Not as entertaining as "Ocean's Eleven". 7/10