With Ocean's Eleven, Soderbergh wanted to revive the era of cool that surrounded the stars of the original version. He succeeded admirably; creating a movie that blew the original out of the water while giving his cast an aura of cool fun to rival the original's Rat Pack. Ocean's Twelve attempts to transfer that formula to a European setting where it can butt up against an entirely different variety of celebrity. What was forgotten along the way is an interesting story.
In the original Danny Ocean was a small time con man who got it into his head to pull off a massive heist. He collected the necessary crew and set about making it happen. In Ocean's Twelve, he and his crew have been elevated to celebrity status for their work in the previous film. In the process, they become a lot less interesting. There are a handful of visual gags about what these guys did with their money but they backfire, cheapening the characters for the most part. A lot of the original crew are reduced to glorified cameo appearances. Take for example the Malloy brothers (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck) seemed to be in virtually every scene in the first movie. They didn't always have something to say but they were constantly in motion in the background and they were vital to the plan. In this movie, they appear only sporadically and rarely seem to have a real purpose. Similarly, Bernie Mac's character, an important element in the first film, is sidelined for significant stretches of this movie. The script for this movie was never intended to be a sequel to Ocean's Eleven. It was called Clowns Don't Cry and was pulled off the shelf by Warner Bros., which had original screenwriter George Nolfi rewrite it for the new characters. This explains much of the awkward and missing chemistry between the characters as well as not really having much for most of them to do.
The story, for lack of a better word, follows the original crew after Terry Benedict, victim of their work in the previous movie, finally catches up with them. He wants his money back, with interest. They pack up and head for Europe where they hope to find jobs that they can pull of the necessary magnitude to pay back over $100 million. Oddly enough, the story gives the impression that advanced burglary in Europe is an actual job for which you must interview. Strange. Their first job is ultra-complicated and they solve it through ridiculous means that must have cost more than what they were actually stealing. The sequence is thoroughly devoid of tension. Plus, they get beat to the prize by another thief, who essentially challenges them to a heist-off to determine who carries the title of best in the world. If only thieves had established a governing body that could determine rankings officially, this would have never been necessary.
Adding to the confusion is a Europol investigator played by Catherine Zeta-Jones who is hot on their trail. She and Rusty (Brad Pitt) used to be an item and he's still a bit hung up on her. It's a stale retread of the Tess subplot from the first movie. Zeta-Jones is actually excellent, with a performance that seems completely out of character for her. Unfortunately, she is poorly used and has little chemistry with Pitt, which basically means that the best thing about the movie is an afterthought.
A lot of critics have given this movie a free pass for giving us the pleasure of hanging out with the cool kids for a couple hours. They need to work on their self-esteem. Anyone craving the company of the cool kids badly enough to think this movie works needs a functioning ego installed promptly. I really loved Ocean's Eleven, even naming it to my top ten list that year, but this sequel is a mess. It makes little sense, has no drive and feels like nothing more than a way to make a buck. It's sad the day I have to say that Steven Soderbergh made a movie just to make some money. The guy who kicked off the indie movie revolution sold out big time.
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