Soderbergh Has the Best Eye in Hollywood

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2005)

I loved this movie, I thought it was far superior to the first in most ways. Where the first was just a fun heist movie with some fun characters and situations, this movie is one of the most technically perfect, well directed, beautifully shot movies I have seen in many years. I came out of the theater with a friend who is a cinematographer and we were both gob-smacked by what we had just seen. Even the obligatory airplane landing establishing/transition shot to connect the action in the U.S. to Europe isn't spared from Soderberg's innovative hands. The camera is directly under the path of the plane and as it passes overhead, we tilt over, and over and over and follow the plane until the camera POV is upside down as the plane comes in for it's landing. The concept isn't all that exciting, but the vibrance and energy little moments like that adds a great deal to the experience. The entire film seems to have been shot hand-held - not steady-cam, which can look too smooth for my tastes, but with an old-fashioned, over the shoulder camera rig. The camera doesn't do that "modern" (but actually outdated) shaky style that tries (and usually fails) to mimic a documentary feel. The camera is held as steady and is possible by the operators, but the natural, almost imperceptible slight movements the camera makes made the proceedings seem more immediate, a tad more frenetic and overall, more dynamic to watch. The photography is always beautiful and the choice of music throughout is dead-on. Again, all the performances are top notch, my only real complaint is that several of the characters seemed to have very little to do this time around. (Bernie Mac, most notably, who spends about 1/2 the movie in a prison cell - I want more Bernie!) But those are minor quibbles for what is over all a vastly superior movie to the first - this one is actually a work of art.