Director:
Steven Soderbergh
Starring:
George Clooney ………. Danny Ocean
Brad Pitt ………. Rusty Ryan
Matt Damon ………. Linus Caldwell/Lenny Pepperidge
Andy Garcia ………. Terry Benedict
Don Cheadle ………. Basher Tarr/Fender Roads
Bernie Mac ………. Frank Catton
Ellen Barkin ………. Abigail Sponder
Al Pacino ………. Willie Banks
Casey Affleck ………. Virgil Mallow
Scott Caan ………. Turk Malloy
Eddie Jemison ………. Livingston Dell
Shaobo Qin ………. Yen/Mr. Weng
Carl Reiner ………. Saul Bloom/Kensington Chub
Elliott Gould ………. Reuben Tishkoff
Eddie Izzard ………. Roman Nagel
The Movie
With only a few exceptions, a movie trilogy usually goes like this: The first movie of the trilogy is great and becomes a hit. The second movie of the trilogy usually pales in comparison to the first film, and is only a good film. Yet it still becomes a hit by name alone. This creates the desire to make a third movie, which is really all about making money. As a result, the third movie takes another drop in the quality department and gets further and further away from the movie that started the trilogy. Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve followed that formula to the letter. But what about Ocean’s Thirteen? Would it stick to the basic “trilogy pattern” or would it be one of those exceptions?
Ocean’s Thirteen takes place back in Las Vegas. After having to pay back Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) in the previous Ocean flick – all the millions they stole from him in Ocean’s Eleven – it’s time for a new heist and a new victim. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) rounds up his crew when one of their own, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) builds a hotel with known casino owner Willy Banks (Al Pacino), the last thing he ever wanted was to get cut out of the deal personally by the loathsome Banks. Banks’ attitude even goes so far as to finding the amusement in Tishkoff’s misfortune when the double crossing lands Reuben in the hospital because of a heart attack. However, Danny and his crew won’t stand for Banks and what he’s done to a friend. Uniting with their old enemy Benedict, who himself has a vendetta against Banks, the crew is out to pull off a major plan. One that will unfold on the night Banks’ newest hot spot opens up, when the crew is out to bankrupt one of the city’s most despised businessmen. But they’re not in this for the money, they’re in it for the revenge.
One of the major mistakes of Ocean’s Twelve was moving it away from Las Vegas. Europe was okay for the setting of the sequel, but the bar was set in the first film and it wouldn’t be a true Ocean’s movie if it wasn’t set in Las Vegas. The set design, camera work, and ambient music are all top-notch once again and really create the experience you had watching Ocean’s Eleven. If there is one way to describe an Ocean movie, it is that they are aesthetically pleasing to the eye and Ocean’s Thirteen brings it back “home” to recreate the Las Vegas experience.
The filmmakers assume you know the many faces in the movie already, as it doesn’t waste any time jumping into the action. However, if you can’t remember, the “Eleven” on the heist team are Danny Ocean, Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck), Turk Malloy (Scott Caan), Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), “The Amazing” Yen (Shaobo Qin), Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) and Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould). The twelth member of the team in this movie is Terry Benedict, who is back on “friendly” terms with the others. The thirteenth member of the team is Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard), who is not as much of an active participant in the heist but still is an integral member of the team.
What you will notice about the heist team this time is that there is no strong female member. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julia Roberts are both gone from this movie. The only female character featured is Willy Banks’ assistant, Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin). She doesn’t get much screen time, though. With there not being a strong female character is not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s too bad that Ocean’s Thirteen makes you realize that maybe thirteen “main” characters is too much for one screen. While every character on the team got time to shine in the first film, the majority of the characters get very little screen time at all other than to perform a role on this heist. Sure, that’s the name of this game but it would nice to get some actual cake with that icing.
The plot of this movie is fairly simple. You will have to suspend disbelief a little bit in order to believe this heist, however. There is no time for any sub-plots here. The entire movie is like an instruction manual on how you can get revenge on a casino owner by rigging his casino games to rob him using giant drills along the way. Luckily, viewers will forget all about the logic holes when they see Vegas in all of its glory along with numerous interesting characters interacting with each other once again.
While there is not enough time for every character to shine in this film, Ocean’s Thirteen does still have all of your favorite characters from first two films (minus the women) and adds in Al Pacino as the new villain. This film makes up for the biggest mistake of Ocean’s Twelve by bringing the franchise back to Las Vegas, where it belongs. It also moves along at a brisk pace as it gets right down to the action. A times, the movie is a little self-indulgent and could be mistaken as a movie out for nothing but the cash as it is the third movie in a trilogy. However, the latest, and most likely last Ocean jaunt, is a definite upgrade over Ocean’s Twelve and is able to go the distance with the original. Still Thirteen is entertaining enough to give Eleven a run for its money and break all the traditional rules of a trilogy.
The Video:
The video is given in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen color, which is enhanced for 16:9 TVs. The video is actually a bit too grainy for the majority of the film. This is a disappointment as all new releases should but nothing but top quality. That’s really not the case here.
The Audio:
The audio included is available in either English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround sound, French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound, or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound. There are subtitles available in English, Spanish, and French as well. The music and dialogue come out loud and clear, so no major problems here unlike the video.
The Extras:
“Vegas: An Opulent Illusion” Featurette
This is basically a 22 minute documentary on the history of Las Vegas. You can probably find this information elsewhere, but still it’s all interesting to watch. They loosely try to tie this into Ocean’s Thirteen by showing certain scenes in the movie that relate to what they are talking about.
“Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk” Featurette
This is 2 minutes and 30 seconds of producer, Jerry Weintraub, taking you a brief tour on the set of the casino used in the film. It could be a real working casino. Unfortunately this feature ends just as it seemed it was about to begin. It could definitely be longer, but what is here is all informative.
Deleted Scenes
There are four minutes of scenes that didn’t make the movie. Once again, it is nothing you really have to see.
If you liked the original Ocean’s Eleven, you will like this film. It’s back in Las Vegas with all its glory. Unfortunately, not all the characters are featured, but it’s definitely worth a rental nonetheless. Fans of the series will undoubtedly enjoy this film and probably want to buy it. If you didn’t like Ocean’s Twelve, at least give this one a chance. You might actually like as much as the original.
