Ocean's Twelve

Rating: 6/10 (12 January 2014)

The thefts to build a certain paycheck (with interest) to pay back what Danny Ocean and his crew stole from Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) are not as important in the second film of Soderbergh's "Ocean Three" as the interactions of the cast (packed with star power in both big and small roles) and the elaborate chicanery the screenplay pulls on the audience (and Vincent Cassel's egotistical, self-assured, bored-in-his-affluence French aristocratic thief, François Toulour, AKA The Night Fox). The Fabergé egg is what Toulour challenges Danny over to determine who is the best among them regarding thievery. Set in Europe, with Danny and company seemingly up against insurmountable odds (there is an eventual imprisonment where the whole team is sitting in a cell together, and The Night Fox actually beats them to a heist after they extend exhaustive efforts to get to the safe), while an intelligent detective (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) is nipping at their heels on every turn (she is a former flame of Pitt's). This sequel just feels like the band got back together to have a good time, while this popcorn plot of ever-present implausibility ultimately features a twist that pulls the rug on all that we watched the previous 120 minutes. I do think it is questionable to basically jerk us around and stage such complex development just to say it was all for naught because the whole time the eleven had the upper hand on Toulour due to "an ace in their sleeve" involving someone close to Zeta-Jones (Pitt always seems to offer this aura of confidence, and a Cheshire Cat smile that indicates he has a firm grasp on how his boys will survive their ordeal unscathed). I think the next film fixes what this film lacks: an initiative behind "the big heist", giving the team a common goal to seek retribution against a foe (Al Pacino, whereas, Garcia was their target in the first film). Still, I'd lie if I didn't admit that the trick involving how Matt Damon succeeds in getting his team out of a jam thanks to a swerve regarding "the FBI" left me amused, as does Bruce Willis' appearance as it related to a "Julia Roberts scam". While Damon and Carl Reiner have spirited moments in the film, the rest of the cast, besides stars Clooney and Pitt (and, especially, Zeta-Jones, who gets the same star treatment), never quite get the same chances to shine as they did in the first, or would in the final film, of the series. The scene between Damon (who so desperately wants to be one of the "top guys" of the team) and Coltrane, as Clooney and Pitt look on in somewhat closeted embarrassment, in regards to "absurd poetic jargon", I thought was hilarious. I think, considering all the locations utilized and the names in the production involved, you can see all the money spent...maybe just not as well as it could have been.