It has been three years since ringleader Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and 10 other master thieves stole $180 million from shrewd casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). Well, it seems that Benedict did not take the robbery so well and now he wants his money back, with interest, and he has only given them 14 days to come up with over $90 million.The group needs a job; the only problem is that they are too hot to work in the United States, so they decide to go abroad, to Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, they cannot find a big enough job to pay off their entire debt, so they decide to do a bunch of little heists.
Their first act of thievery is to take a very old stock sheet that is worth a little over $3 million. The man who owns the stock sheet suffers from agoraphobia, which means he never leaves his house and he has a very high-tech security system. The clan finally figures a way into the house, however, they find that the prize has already been stolen by the Night Fox, played wonderfully by French actor Vincent Cassel. The rest of the film is a cat and mouse chase between Ocean’s 12, the Night Fox (Cassel) and a government agent (Catherine Zeta-Jones) trying to catch everyone.
The film is well-directed by Steven Soderbergh who was the master-mind behind the first film. The scenery is beautiful; whether in Amsterdam or on Lake Como, Italy, the surroundings reflect the classy appearance of the characters.
“Ocean’s Twelve” has an outstanding cast that brings loads of humor to the film. Brad Pitt is delicious as Rusty, the charming detail man who has a little bit of history with agent Isabel Lahiri (Zeta-Jones). Don Cheadle is always amazing as Basher, the explosive expert and Scott Caan and Casey Affleck are hilarious as the quarreling getaway twins.
One of the problems with “Ocean’s Twelve” is establishing 11 characters (not counting Garcia, Cassel and Zeta-Jones) and keeping the story line alive and uncomplicated. The heist scenes are very well orchestrated and visually stimulating but trying to comprehend the final robbery is confusing.
In the end, “Ocean’s Twelve” is a sequel that is entertaining, filled with laughs and loaded with talent.