Ocean's Twelve
Synopsis
Danny Ocean's gang of thieves is reunited for this sequel. This time, they
have to pay back the money they stole with interest. So they move to Europe
where they run into a rival thief who challenges them to a little friendly
wager.
What I Thought
Let's see, all the actors are back with the addition of Catherine
Zeta-Jones. As in the first movie, there is this great chemistry between
them all, which is fun to see. You can tell they had fun making this
movie. Matt Damon and Julia Roberts are given much
larger roles, but then Bernie Mac and a few others are
totally wasted.
As to the movie itself, the storyline is so-so. Some parts feel rushed and
not that clear. If you remember, I mentioned the jerky camera action in
Bourne Supremacy, and that method is used here as well. Some reviewers
pointed out that this movie was shot in Amsterdam and other very choice
locations. Now, that may be true, but jerky camera kinda kills this for
me. Additionally, you may know what's going on
if you're paying attention to what they're saying, but
if you miss anything because the guy sitting in
front of you is noisily chewing his popcorn, you may not know what's going
on just by watching the action (yeah, that was me kicking your seat!).
So pay attention and wear stout boots.
There are some wonderful one-liners here, especially from Carl Reiner ("I
want the last check that I write to bounce!"--great line from an old
con-man). They also had some fun with the snappy patter that Brad Pitt,
Matt Damon, and George Clooney are so good at delivering. And the
argument where they all object to the name "Ocean's
11"! A hoot! Who? Larius! That's who!
The chemistry that Pitt and Clooney have is almost uncanny. They are a
great movie duo, and I use the word "great" deliberately. I wish they
made other movies together, and thinking about it,
it's been a long time since I've seen two actors
repeatedly work together so well.
My one objection (and you know I gotta have at least one) is with how Julia
Roberts is used. First of all, she looks aweful. None of that glamour
from the first movie for her, Zeta-Jones gets the
glamour treatment here (and she looks amazing). And
secondly, although I'm not going to give it away, the
whole Tess situation with the museum feels like the writers got totally
lazy. That part was written by a 15 year old.
As all the reviews say, this movie will not win any awards, but it wasn't
meant to. The movie is like ice cream. Mostly empty calories,
delicious, fun while it lasts, and melts too fast.
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