A rather messy sequel

Rating: 6/10 (26 November 2017)

A few years have passed since Danny Ocean's band of thieves robbed Terry Benedict's casino in Las Vegas, now he has tracked them all down and he wants his money back with interest. Obviously most of the money has been spent; if they are to avoid being killed they will have to steal more within a fortnight. Since they are too well known in the United States they head to Europe and set about planning a job which has been given them by a contact. Their do the job but find somebody has got there before them and left a message. Danny immediately realises that this thief is the person responsible for telling Benedict where everybody was. The other thief is 'The Night Fox', a French master thief who sees himself as Number One. Danny meets him and they make a bet; each will try to steal a Faberge egg that is due to be exhibited in Rome; if Danny's gang gets it the Night Fox will pay their debts; if they lose Danny will acknowledge that The Night Fox is the better thief and Benedict will have his revenge! If that wasn't enough Europol agent Detective Isabel Lahiri, who had previously dated Danny's partner Rusty is hunting the gang and the Night Fox.
The previous film was a fun caper movie; with a bunch of thieves working together to rob a single 'impossible' target this sequel has plenty of fun moments but it is too messy. Here we have two robberies, a rival thief determined to beat them, a cop who one of the team dated and the knowledge that if they fail Benedict will have them killed. There are some good jokes and at one point is gets very Meta as Danny's wife Tess, played by Julia Roberts, tries to pass herself off as Julia Roberts and meets Bruce Willis who is playing himself! While there is an obvious threat and at times it looks as if everything has gone wrong for the gang I don't imagine many viewers will think things won't work out for them in the end. The cast, which is almost entirely well known, do a solid job and are clearly having fun. Overall this is hardly a must see but it isn't terrible and is a pleasant enough way to pass a couple of hours.