Review - Ocean's Twelve (2004)

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Back in April, I made a review of Steven Soderbergh's film Ocean's Eleven, and in that review, I promised to review it's sequel, Ocean's Twelve, in June. Well, it's June, so here it is, my review of Ocean's Twelve, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring returning players George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Eddie Jemison, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, and Shaobo Qin, with newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vincent Cassell, Eddie Izzard, Robbie Coltrane, Albert Finney, Cherry Jones, and Bruce Willis. 

          So, some time has passed since Danny Ocean and the guys ripped off millions out of the Bellagio vault in Las Vegas, and things have been pretty quiet for the most part. Unfortunately, Terry Benedict has tracked down Danny and Tess, who are enjoying their anniversary, as Terry wants Danny and the guys to pay back the money they took, plus interest. Now, even though the insurance covered the loss of the money, Terry wants Danny and the guys, who have since become known as Ocean's Eleven, to pay him back on principle. 

          Coming together to pool their money, Danny and the guys find that they're short quite a bit, and can't pay Terry back in full without pulling a few jobs. However, because they've become too high profile to pull jobs in the States, Danny and the guys head overseas to pull some jobs, with Saul bowing out due to being "the resident old timer." First up, Danny and Rusty, along with Linus, go to meet with an old contact named Matsui, who communicates in a bizarre way, but Danny and Rusty both get it. And, later in the movie, it's revealed that Matsui's bizarre speech is merely a "Lost in Translation," and was just being used to mess with Linus. Anyway, Matsui sets them up to take a job regarding a rare document: the first stock certificate ever issued. After pulling a few gigs, Danny and the guys go after the certificate, only to find it was already stolen by a notorious thief known as the Night Fox. 

          It's here where we meet Europol detective Isabel Lahiri, who was previously in a relationship with Rusty, and has been after the Night Fox for years, along with his mysterious mentor LeMarc. Isabel meets Rusty, and warns him that the Night Fox, like LeMarc, is an expert in playing the Long Con. After some digging, Danny and the guys learn that the Night Fox is, in fact, François Toulour, a wealthy French Baron and gentleman thief. 

         Finding his private villa on Lake Como, Danny goes to meet Toulour and learns that he exposed their identities (breaking the code of silence among thieves), and hired Matsui to inform them on the stock certificate, in order for Toulour to meet with Danny in person, and set up a wager: if Danny and the guys can steal a priceless Fabergé Egg before Toulour, then Toulour will pay off their debt to Benedict. Why? All because Toulour was enraged when LeMarc suggested that Danny was a better thief than Toulour. Yeesh. 

         Anyway, Danny and the guys go to set up the heist, which involves a holographic recreation of the Egg, but Toulour screws them over by setting them up to be arrested by Isabel, who takes in all but Linus, Turk, Saul, and Basher. Linus then cooks up an alternative plan, which involves bringing in Tess, and having her pose as actress Julia Roberts, but the ruse is almost ruined because of actor Bruce Willis. And, when they see that someone got to the Egg first, Isabel takes everyone in. At the police station, Isabel is approached by FBI agent Molly Star, who starts interrogations with Linus, and takes Danny, the guys, and Tess to be extradited to the U.S. However, this was a ruse to get everyone out of jail, and Agent Molly Star is, in truth, the mother of Linus, who is there to free everyone. Also, she reveals that Matsui was merely toying with Linus, as it's something he does for first timers. 

       Isabel follows Rusty, promises to take her to someone who knows her father. Danny and Tess,. meanwhile, meet with Toulour, who reveals that he nabbed the Egg from the museum using his agility and dancing skills to avoid the high level security lasers. However, Danny reveals that the Egg Toulour stole was a fake, as the true egg was stolen on board a train (being carried in a backpack), as Danny and Rusty were tipped off by LeMarc. So, a deal's a deal, and Toulour covers Danny and the guys' debt to Benedict, which is delivered by Reuben, who makes the promise that Danny and the guys won't steal from Benedict again. As for Rusty and Isabel? Well, Rusty takes Isabel, to meet with LeMarc, who is, in fact, Isabel's father. 

        Ocean's Twelve, while a significant downgrade in quality from Ocean's Eleven, is a really entertaining globetrotting flick, with a lot of beautiful locations and a ton of fun banter between the main characters. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon as Danny, Rusty, and Linus were excellent again, and both Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones as Tess and Isabel were fantastic. The rest of the guys, like Bernie Mac as Frank, Don Cheadle as Basher, Eddie Jemison as Livingston, Carl Reiner as Saul, Elliot Gould as Reuben, Shaobo Qin as Yen, and both Casey Affleck and Scott Caan as Virgil and Turk, all of them were in point. And, for his minimal role this time, I enjoyed the return of Andy Garcia as Terry Benedict. 

        The addition of the likes of Robbie Coltrane as Matsui, Albert Finney as LeMarc, Eddie Izzard as Roman Nagel (who helps the guys in this movie), and Vincent Cassell as Toulour were all excellent. But, one of my favorite additions was Cherry Jones as Mrs. Caldwell. I like the idea that Linus' mother is a con woman who is also an FBI agent, thus making it easier to pull off and cover up cons. Clever. 

          Overall, Steven Soderbergh took what was an unrelated film written by George Nolfi, and made it into a thoroughly entertaining sequel to Ocean's Eleven. So, I'm giving Ocean's Twelve a rating of 4.65/5. 

         Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I will be back next in my breakdown of Toonami. And as for Ocean's Thirteen? I'm probably going to review that one in September. So, stay tuned.