Plot: What’s it about?
Fans of 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven” will (or have already) flocked to see the sequel – “Ocean’s Twelve”. Admittedly, it’s not nearly as fun as the original, well the original would have been Frank Sinatra’s version, but sequels rarely are as good as their predecessors. What is good is that the entire cast returns with the addition of a few others – most notably the inclusion of the lovely Cathernine Zeta-Jones (Douglas). Director Steven Soderbergh is back at the helm and again seems to walk that line between quirky humor and gritty drama. Hey, it worked in the first one so why not now? One has to wonder, though, will all of the “A” list names in the cast why this one didn’t work quite as well this time around? Was the budget spent on their salaries? At any rate, a good heist movie is hard to come by and “Ocean’s Twelve” does deliver what it promises…
The plot is very simple: its three years after the Las Vegas heist (the movie assumes “Ocean’s Eleven” has already been viewed) and the crew has all gone their separate ways. Each of the members has, in essence, blown their millions. To make matters worse, Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) has found all of the culprits and wants his money back – with interest! It’s a simple choice, really, pay him back or end up dead. With that said, all of the members of the crew get back together (in Europe this time) to pull off three different jobs to get the money to pay back Benedict. It’s also underwritten that he might be a bit peeved that Daniel (George Clooney) got his woman (Julia Roberts). So we go right back to the action with the gang plotting impossible jobs that only they can do. But (yes, there’s a “but”) they’re being followed by Isabel Lahiri (Cathernie Zeta-Jones) who is determined to stop them. Will the gang be able to pull off the heist and pay back Benedict or will they all end up dead?
Gee…I wonder.
I have to say that despite its predictability, I did enjoy “Ocean’s Twelve”. It follows the sequel formula to a tee with bigger action, bigger stars and more elaborate script but the main three characters (played by Matt Damon, George Clooney and Brad Pitt) seem to relax and have fun with their roles. Again, my only complaint was that the cast is so large that we don’t get to see a lot of the interaction between them all. I really loved the chemistry between Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan respectively) in the original, but they’re nearly passed over in this installment. I will say that Julia Roberts did have a more prominent role in this one and thus, brought the movie down a few notches. There’s an interesting little sub-plot with her and I won’t give away what it is – let’s just say that it’s a little too clever for its own good. Overall, “Ocean’s Twelve” did what it was supposed to – make money – but the first one is still far more entertaining and a much better film.
Video: How does it look?
“Ocean’s Twelve” is shown in a 2.35:1 anamorphic image that, for the most part, looks pretty clean and solid. Soderbergh often uses a variety of camera types in his films that give them a “documentary” look and feel. Parts of the film look great, while others seem rather gritty and grainy. I feel, though, that this is how it was intended as opposed to being a faulty transfer. Colors look very warm and natural, and at other times look a bit washed out. Again, this is how it was intended and not the transfer. I did notice a bit of softness in some scenes and while I was pleased on the whole – I was expecting a bit more.
Audio: How does it sound?
The audio is a standard Dolby Digital 5.1 track that doesn’t really perform on all cylinders. At times it’s very rich and robust and at others I almost felt that I needed to turn the volume up. Surrounds are used very sparingly as most of the action takes place in the front stage. Dialogue is warm and natural and the soundtrack booms evenly over all 5.1 channels. While this wasn’t meant to blow the roof off the place, it has moments – but again I found it a bit lacking…
Supplements: What are the extras?
There must be plans for a Special Edition of the title somewhere down the road because this thing is nearly bare. The only thing that was included was a theatrical trailer. Even “Ocean’s Eleven” came equipped with a pair of audio commentaries. Nevertheless, this is geared for fans of the movie, to be sure.
