Leave it to Steven Soderbergh and his neo-rat pack of actors to make a popcorn sequel so stylish and so fun that it doesn't even matter how unoriginal it is. Ocean's Twelve, a sequel to the 2001 remake, Ocean's Eleven, basically takes the first film's plot and sends it to Europe.
Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon), Frank (Bernie Mac) and Basher (Don Cheadle) are among the gang sent to Europe by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) to steal some money to pay him back from the heist in the first film. But things go awry thanks to a detective (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who's hot on their trail, forcing Ocean and company to bring in Julia Roberts's character to make their 11 a 12.
The story was taken from a script written by George Nolfi that was intended to be a John Woo film. When it was decided that Ocean's Eleven was going to have a sequel, Warner Brothers asked Nolfi to rewrite the script, tinkering with it to suit the characters from that film. But one wonders if much more tinkering actually went on, as sometimes it seems like Soderbergh and his actors are making it up as they go along. And they look like they are having a blast doing it.
But despite the camaraderie, Ocean's Twelve quite simply fails in comparison to Eleven. The first film seemed more organised and came off as a tight, well-executed and very clever heist movie. The sequel seems generally thrown together, but somehow you'll have so much fun watching it that it'll be hard to even notice, or care. (Warner)
Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty (Brad Pitt), Linus (Matt Damon), Frank (Bernie Mac) and Basher (Don Cheadle) are among the gang sent to Europe by Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) to steal some money to pay him back from the heist in the first film. But things go awry thanks to a detective (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who's hot on their trail, forcing Ocean and company to bring in Julia Roberts's character to make their 11 a 12.
The story was taken from a script written by George Nolfi that was intended to be a John Woo film. When it was decided that Ocean's Eleven was going to have a sequel, Warner Brothers asked Nolfi to rewrite the script, tinkering with it to suit the characters from that film. But one wonders if much more tinkering actually went on, as sometimes it seems like Soderbergh and his actors are making it up as they go along. And they look like they are having a blast doing it.
But despite the camaraderie, Ocean's Twelve quite simply fails in comparison to Eleven. The first film seemed more organised and came off as a tight, well-executed and very clever heist movie. The sequel seems generally thrown together, but somehow you'll have so much fun watching it that it'll be hard to even notice, or care. (Warner)