Year:
2004
Studio:
Warner Bros/Village Roadshow Pictures
Feature:
3/5
Ocean's Twelve is the sequel to the 2001 movie Ocean's Eleven. It's a
few months after the end of the first movie. The gang has gone off to
their separate ways, spending their part of the loot from the big
heist. But then Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) finds them and tracks each
member down. He wants his money back, with interest, in two weeks or
he's going to kill them all.
Well, as a group they're a bit short. Almost $100 million short. How to
raise that much money in only a fortnight? Not in the US. They go to
Europe, Amsterdam to be specific. There they are foiled by
François Toulour (Vincent Cassel), the reigning best thief in
the world. It seems Toulour has something against Danny Ocean (George
Clooney) who with one impossible heist is now the most famous thief of
the criminal underworld.
Toulour arranged all this and has a challenge for Ocean. A contest.
Ocean's team vs Toulour with the winner being the one who steals a
Faberge Egg (I guess the most expensive one being showcased in a Roman
museum). If Ocean wins Toulour pays off his debt. If Toulour wins Ocean
and his mates die.
To complicate matters, EuroPol has gotten wind of Ocean and is after
the whole team. Actually, not all of EuroPol, just Isabel Lahiri
(Catherine Zeta-Jones). She is fixated on capturing Ocean's Eleven and
especially Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), who she had a relationship with
three years previously, before she knew he was a thief.
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Things quickly go from bad to worse
because Lahiri is quite good and Toulour cheats. Soon everyone is in
jail with only Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle),
and Turk Malloy (Scott Caan) left to finish the job. They need help for
a last desperate plan. And for that they enlist the aid of Ocean's wife
Tess (Julia Roberts). And that's how you get Ocean's Twelve.
I liked Ocean's Twelve, maybe a little better than Eleven. Eleven was a
heist movie with style, but still a heist movie. Although Twelve is
also a heist movie, it's not as clean cut as the first one. There's a
lot more personality and fun in Twelve. I laughed more and really
enjoyed the actors being in a movie that they obviously enjoyed doing.
The only problem I had was that I couldn't figure out the point of the
big heist. Toulour's challenge is not the point, there's actually
another reason. But I missed the clues so the ending was a bit weird.
Talking it over with my siblings afterwards it quickly became clear why
things happened the way they did, which I should have noticed during
the movie.
Overall Ocean's Twelve is about as good as the first film. It has the
same look and personality. The characters each get a bit of screen time
to call their own and they're all entertaining to watch. The plot is a
bit loose at times but it makes sense in the end. I think most people
will enjoy the movie, though you really should see the first movie
before watching this one.
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