Credit: Impawards.com
Ocean’s Twelve
Starring Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts and Don Cheadle
Written by George Nolfi
Directed by Steven Soderbergh
THE MOVIE
When the remake of the crime thriller Ocean’s Eleven was originally released, it was a much different atmosphere for the cast and crew then it was when Ocean’s Twelve was released. The cast was on the verge of becoming major stars, as opposed to just being well known, and director Steven Soderbergh was coming off several major hits (as well as about to win an Oscar for Best Director for Traffic). This was the perfect project at the perfect time; afterwards Andy Garcia, Matt Damon and George Clooney would join the A-list populated by co-stars Brad Pitt and Julie Roberts on a regular basis. It was the film that helped Clooney finally shed the “television actor” tag, the film that vaulted Damon up to the rarified air his friend Ben Affleck occupied and the project that was well-received commercially as well as critically. It also helped give Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle and Scott Caan with some mainstream accessibility, setting the trio up for other projects in the years since.
So when a sequel was announced, the interest level peaked when the entirety of the original cast all returned for another caper. This time around the crew was tracked down by the Las Vegas heavyweight (Garcia) they had robbed and given an ultimatum: return the money they had stolen or suffer the consequences. So Danny Ocean (Clooney), Linus (Damon) Brad’s character (Pitt) and the rest of the original eleven go over to Europe to recoup the near $200 million they stole with another series of heists. This time around they have some competition, a mysterious and nearly supernatural criminal called the Nightfox . After being foiled several times by the Nightfox, they settle on a priceless artifact. Betting the sum of their debts against each other in a wager to see who can steal it first, it becomes a race against the time. Add on a police inspector (Catherine Zeta-Jones) hot on their trail, the group finds much more difficulty this time around than before. As their numbers dwindle due to an apt police investigation, the shrinking crew keeps coming up with (and failing) at the theft.
It’s incredibly entertaining, as there are plenty of strong dramatic moments as well as some solid comedy, and the film isn’t really a heist film as it is more of a riff on the genre. This is a cast that’s obviously out there to have fun and not itself too seriously, and the film reflects that sort of energetic and relaxed atmosphere. It’s also a fairly well developed movie for the most part; there’s just enough exposition to get the film started, but since the film is a sequel things like character development, et al, don’t need to be done nearly as much since the characters are already familiar by this point. There is some nice character shading done as well; we get a bit more of a glance at some of the supporting characters (Linus in particular) that weren’t developed as much in the first film. There’s much less emphasis on the heist than there is on how the characters react to their failed attempts, and the film is at its peak when the last of the group is arrested and placed in prison. There are plenty of things that could’ve been done, but from here is where the film goes from being very entertaining and well done to disappointing in the blink of an eye.
THE UNHAPPY ENDING
The whole heist is essentially meaningless, as they stole the object during the initial parts of the movie and didn’t show it. The whole film is a big bamboozle on the viewers.
HOW TO FIX THE ENDING
Once it’s learned that the whole heist by the crew was meaningless, as it was done before the events of the film and never shown on camera, it makes the events of the last 90 minutes pretty much meaningless. It’s a shocking twist, and one that takes the story in a much different direction, but it’s ultimately a meaningless twist because it renders the entire movie moot. Outside of Ocean and Pitt’s character, everyone is presumably under the notion that is being stolen is in fact a priceless artifact. Ocean and Pitt’s character are removed from the heist due to various reasons early on, leaving the film to be carried by the bulk of the crew. Whether or not the heist is successful is irrelevant if the remaining members are unaware of the finale, as the real target would already be in their possession and the game already won, and it would make the twist a bit tighter if this was the case.
Overall it just turns all the goodwill developed during the film and ruins it, leaving a finale of the cast playing poker and laughing it up. It’s insulting because the whole film has been a waste of time. The fun atmosphere and uniqueness that both Ocean’s Twelve and its predecessor had is evident, it’s just for a grand finale the sequel decides to give the audience the middle finger
