Twelve is different than Eleven.

Rating: 10/10 (11 December 2004)

To be honest, I saw this movie back in August at a special advance screening. I was actually so overwhelmed because I got to meet and talk to Steve Soderbergh before and after the film. In my opinion, Soderbergh is one of the few directors whose films I can trust for quality entertainment, intellect, and style. But to review the movie back then would have been unfair, it's like judging the first demo take of the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever" before George Martin added the tape loops.
So I decided to wait and review the movie after seeing the final cut, and I was actually pleased that I did that, because just like what I've been telling people for four months and will continue to tell people "Twelve is different that Eleven." "Oh, o.k. so it's not good." Is what most reactions are after I make that comment. "No, not true," I replied. OCEANS TWELVE is different that OCEANS ELEVEN, the same way KILL BILL VOL. 1 was different that KILL BILL VOL. 2. VOL. 1 was the ultimate homage to the films of the Shaw Bros., VOL. 2 was the homage to the Spaghetti Westerns. OCEANS ELEVEN captured the hip and cool feel of the Vegas heyday of the 60's, when Frank, Dino, Peter, Sammy, and Pal Joey ruled the strip. OCEANS TWELVE captures the European feel when Truffaut, Godard, and Fellini were kings of the art house cinemas. OCEANS TWELVE takes place three years after the infamous "Belligo heist" when Danny Ocean (Clooney), gathered his crew of men and managed to steal over $160 million dollars from casino Mongol, Terry Benedict (Garcia). Now Benedict has tracked Ocean and his entire crew, and the situation has turned into what Danny's wife Tess (Roberts) alerts Danny about Benedict knowing who did the heist, "the basement is flooded and the lights are out." So Danny gathers his entire crew back together again: Rusty (Pitt), Linus (Damon), Basher (Cheadle), Saul (Reiner), Ruben (Gould), the "Mormon twins" (Affleck & Caan), Yen (Qin), Dell (Eddie Jemison), and Frank (Mac). The first scene when the entire crew are all together manages to create some nice witty in-joke laughs, such as Turk Malloy questioning Ocean, "and since when was this called 'Oceans Eleven?'" The problem is that Benedict knows who pulled off the heist three years ago, he's angry and wants all $160 million dollars back, plus three years worth of interest. The problem, Ocean and his crew can't pull off any job in America since their faces are well known. The solution, go overseas to Europe and pull off another heist to payback Benedict.
Yet there is still two other problems, first, it turns out that Rusty had a relationship with Isabel (Zeta-Jones) and suddenly left her after she was about to find out the person who pulled off a heist was actually Rusty. Now Isabel is one of the top detectives of the Euro-Pol force for the crime division. Second, there is another master thief Toulour (Cassel), who calls himself "the Fox" decides to have some fun of his own with Ocean and his crew. OCEANS TWELVE succeeds the same way OCEANS ELEVEN did, is one of the most enjoyable, witty, and entertaining movies of the year. Yet, like KILL BILL VOL. 2, OCEANS TWELVE is more plot and character orientated. And with OCEANS ELEVEN where the focus of the romance was Danny and Tess; OCEANS TWELVE it focuses on Rusty and Isabel, with some very enjoyable flashback scenes. Soderbergh again has a batting average of Barry Bonds, and hits another home run with this film. His directing is fantastic, capturing the look, mood, and feel of the European heist films such as GRAND SLAM, the original Italian JOB, and TOPKAPI. Such as the pan of the camera to focus on a particular character, the rapid zoom close-up shots, and the freeze shot before cutting to another scene. Yet he blends it well with modern European style with the technology, talk, and fashion of the modern hip world. I mean, I would love to hang out with this crew! I also highly enjoyed the soundtrack music supervised and composed by David Holmes (who also did Soderbergh's OCEANS ELEVEN and OUT OF SIGHT). Holmes did a great job using his very hip-techno mixes and songs and mixing it well with 60's era European artist such as actress/singer Ornella Vanoni, and composer Piero Umiliani. And the performances are fun and enjoyable to watch. It is obvious that all of the cast members had a fun time while making this movie, and it shows. Yet, that doesn't mean that the viewer should be left out, since there are some witty scenes that make a lot of reference to the previous film, the way Linus trying to understand how Danny and Rusty operate, and about the twelfth member of the crew looking like somebody else. While OCEANS TWELVE doesn't have a intelligent or great plot like COLLATERAL, SIDEWAYS, RAY, or THE INCREDIBLES. It does exactly what it promises. It promises fun, enjoyment, and laughs, and that is exactly what you will get when watching OCEANS TWELVE. This isn't the most intellectual film of the year, but it is the best looking, and one of the most entertaining and best films of this year. Hats off to Soderbergh, Holmes, writer Geoge Nolfi, and the entire cast for OCEANS TWELVE, for making a delightful film! ***** (out of five)