Ocean's Twelve

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Stupid, pointless, and confusing..., 2008-12-28
At first, I couldn't understand how so many highly-paid and famous "stars" would willingly participate in this dud. But then somebody told me everyone in Hollywood is on cocaine which makes everything look great. And as many others have said, they got to celebrate their egos and apparently had a lot of fun at our expense. I guess that explains it. But it's so bad I may just throw it away and save the space in my DVD rack...

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

3 stars out of 4, 2008-12-18
The Bottom Line: br / br /Though the caper aspects of Ocean's Twelve are rather dissapointing, the amusing character interaction, several hilarious scenes, and an inspired gag involving Julia Roberts make this film worthy of a tepid recommendation.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Talk about sloppy seconds..., 2008-10-10
The thing is, I should have known this was going to happen, and in a way I did. I mean, I've been vocal about not getting into `Ocean's Eleven' and I just had this horrible feeling that this movie was going to be just as bad. I never imagined that it would be worse, but `just as bad', yes. br / br /The whole concept behind the original film was taking a bunch of highly recognizable stars and throw them into a fast paced (albeit brainless) caper of a film where they got to be funny (sort of) and interact on a very personal level with one another, hopefully to engage the audience and make a lot of money. The problem was that not one of the actors could live up to their own hype. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts...all actors who are genuinely charming and interesting and engaging, yet together at this magnitude they were lukewarm at best. The problem with `Ocean's Twelve' is that they repeat the same ineffective formula, adding only layers of confusion and stupidity to spice things up. br / br /I can't even really begin to explain to you what they are trying to pull off here, but I'll attempt it. The gang is all back, except this time they are stealing money to save their lives since Terry Benedict (the guy they robbed in the first film) has found them all and tells them if they don't pay back what they stole with interest then they are dead men. They flee to Amsterdam to try their hand and getting back the money but there is a thief called the Nightfox who is one step ahead of them the entire way. Seems that he sit he one who tipped off Benedict as to their whereabouts because he felt threatened by Ocean's success and wanted to prove once and for all that he was the better thief. br / br /Add to the mix Rusty's (that's Pitt) former flame Isabel Lahiri, who has an agenda all her own, and you have a slightly confusing, rather bland and boring answer to the mess they handed us in 2001. br / br /I really wanted this to be so much better than it was. I thought that maybe the spark they were missing in `Ocean's Eleven' would be found after these years went by and they might bring something fresh and exciting to the table, but this atrocity if far worse than the original. Clooney, Pitt, Roberts, Garcia, Zeta-Jones, Caan, Affleck, Cheadle (who fares better than anyone else) and especially Damon are all just boring. There is no natural charm in these actors. br / br /Honestly, aside from one hilarious scene where Tess pretends to be Julia Roberts in order to complete a heist and is accosted by Bruce Willis, the film almost put me to sleep. That one scene saved the film a bit. br / br /I have yet to attempt the third film (it's been sitting on my DVR for months now) but I will soon. I'm not looking forward to it, but I would feel incomplete if I didn't at least give it a try. I want to give this movie an F because I was so furious with its lack of real effort, but I'm going to settle for a D, maybe D-. The film is dreadful in scenes, but Roberts elevates the whole film with three minutes of pure unadulterated charisma, and for that I am grateful.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Underrated fluff, 2008-09-15
A lack of pretension can cover a multitude of sins- even the lack of a plausible script. Such is the premise that Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven remake of the Rat pack classic 1960s caper film, must have been pitched at studio executives with. Simply put, never has a film about less, with less characterization and more smug mugging for the camera ever worked better. There were a plethora of such films in the 1960s, both American and European, and even Japanese, but none with the star power this film has. Style, on very rare occasions, can trump substance, and this film is that exceptional one that proves that substance usually is king. br / Ok, what of the plot? In the first film Danny Ocean (George Clooney)and his crew stole $160 million from the casino of a big time casino owning mobster named Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). This film opens three years later, with all eleven thrives hunted down and given a deadline with which to pay back the money with interest, or die. Of course, there are plot holes galore. The whole set up is untenable, and the fact that such smooth operators would so easily expose themselves is ridiculous. Still, there are some really funny scenes of Bernie Mac in a massage, Rusty (Matt Damon) as a lap dog, and assorted other funny scenes. Only Ocean manages to escape such a threat- but not for long, as he re-teams with the others to make things right....What I find amazing is how many reviewers panned this film. It reminded me of the roasting the 1998 Hollywood version of Godzilla got; as if a film about a big lizard stomping on New York would or should have been Oscar caliber? This is why I started off talking about pretense, and its ability to salvage potentially bad films. In this case, it works, and so does the film. Now, if Ocean's Thirteen were smart it would just focus all on Ms. Jones. Sometimes pretense has its charms! br /

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

Your Time Is Valuable - This Film Steals It, 2008-06-28
Steven Soderbergh has made some very good films, this isn't one of them. Lots of talent in the cast, with the exception of Brad Pitt of course, who continues to embarrass himself, and us, with his impersonation of an actor. Having so much recognizable talent on screen is very distracting from the story, which is unfortunate, since there is no story worthy of the name. The script, if one may use such a lofty term to describe it, is simply wretched - some scenes contain dialog that is truly cringe-worthy. The producers of this bloated catastrophe have attempted to cover its sheer vacuousness with lavish production value, lots of dressy location photography in swish European hot spots, and Hollywood "in jokes" like Julia Roberts doing a bad impression of Julia Roberts - which when you think about it - is all she ever does. This movie doesn't merely fail, it fails on every conceivable level - it is a thief of time.