Ocean's Twelve

I wasn't expecting much from Ocean's Twelve. The reviews were pretty mediocre, and it was a sequel, after all. However, the movie really exceeded my expectations by being pretty thoroughly entertaining.

The film is very light in tone. It never takes itself too seriously, which results is a breezy, very watchable movie. There's a couple of heists/cons in the film, and numerous levels of deceptions by many folks, as you'd expect, so it's a good treat if you're a fan of heist films in general. It's probably one of the most stylish films in a good long while, and for the most part, it's a treat just to lean back and take in the scenery.

The movie's far from perfect, though. There's a lot of emphasis put on the style of the film, so much so that it's distracting. It's not a bad thing to have a flair for cinematography, but most of the more stylized shots in the film serve no purpose other than to call attention to themselves. Also, most of the characters aren't really given much screen time at all, aside from the main leads, which is unfortunate, because that was one of the best parts of Soderbergh's original.

It's a good movie, easy to watch once and then mostly forget. There are plenty of flaws, but it's still worth checking out if you're a fan of the first.