Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

5/10

Starring

(Listed below)

Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Ocean’s Twelve isn’t half bad, but it’s not that great either. By the time you get to the end of the movie, you feel angry and disappointed, realizing that all the action and buildup in the middle was just a waste of your time.

The movie adds a twist that makes it feel like you should’ve just fast-forwarded to the end to see what it was all about. The Ocean’s crew is at it again, but this time, Terry Benedict (Andy García) is onto their game. He locates all eleven members of Danny Ocean's (George Clooney) gang and demands they return the $160 million they stole from his casinos, plus $38 million in interest.

Now short on the money they stole from Benedict, the Ocean’s crew has to pull off another heist to make up for it. To do this, they plan a series of heists across Europe, but things get complicated when they cross paths with a rival thief, The Night Fox, who’s determined to prove he’s the best in the world. Along the way, the crew faces unexpected challenges, double-crosses, and a few surprises that test their skills and teamwork. The movie is called Ocean’s Twelve because of the inclusion of one more person to the crew: Julia Roberts joins the gang to help make up the money.

The Ocean’s Eleven crew remains the same as in the first movie:

1. George Clooney as Danny Ocean
2. Bernie Mac as Frank Catton
3. Brad Pitt as Rusty Ryan
4. Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff
5. Casey Affleck as Virgil Malloy
6. Scott Caan as Turk Malloy
7. Eddie Jemison as Livingston Dell
8. Don Cheadle as Basher Tarr
9. Shaobo Qin as "The Amazing" Yen
10. Carl Reiner as Saul Bloom
11. Matt Damon as Linus Caldwell
    And then:
12. Julia Roberts as Tess

The movie also features Julia Roberts as Tess playing herself, as part of the plot to get the money they need.

The movie lacks the grace that made the first film a masterpiece. Here, the crew also goes up against another thief called The Night Fox, who wants to prove to Ocean that he’s the best thief in the world.

The movie was a box office success, making three times its production cost.

Ocean’s Twelve isn’t that good, but what gets me is that Ocean’s Thirteen, done three years later, was magnificent—making the first and last films the only ones in the trilogy worth seeing.