Ocean's Twelve (2004) User Reviews (731)

"There's water in the basement and the pilot light's out!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 17 February 2018]

If this movie has a downside, and many of the reviewers here think it does, I think it tries to be ambitious to a fault trying to top it's predecessor, "Ocean's Eleven". This was no more evident than in the gimmick to raise the level of a building by three inches using some underwater hydraulic contraptions. I couldn't follow the logistics of that escapade, much less think it was feasible at all, but the sheer audacity of the idea sounded compelling as all get out. But come on, Linus Caldwell's (Matt Damon) idea for a 'lookie-loo and a bundle of joy' was brilliant; who else would have come up with the idea of Julia Roberts impersonating Julia Roberts in a movie? It was almost as good as Bruce Campbell portraying Elvis Presley who in turn impersonates an Elvis Presley impersonator in 2002's "Bubba Ho-Tep". Try wrapping your heard around that one.

So Julia Roberts provides the number '12' in this outing, which reunites the usual gang of idiots from the first movie. Good to see Don Cheadle got his own credit for the flick this time around. I will agree that there's a lot to be confused about in the story if you're not paying attention, so you need to be glued to the picture throughout. Noteworthy scenes include Tess's (Roberts) encounter with Bruce Willis (as himself), and Vincent Cassel's turn as a slow motion break-dancer doing the laser field jump.

In the end, the caper turns out to be almost secondary to the zaniness involved in all of this. None of it's believable at all, but what was believable about "Ocean's Eleven" when you come right down to it? Leave your brain at the door and just enjoy the flick for the camaraderie and fun involved with the Ocean crew. It's easier that way.

Leaves you pining for '11'

[Sweet_Ophelia · 5/10 · 11 December 2004]

Three years ago Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his team stole 160 million dollars from Terry Benedict (Garcia). Now Benedict wants his money back. Plus interest. Thus Ocean and his crew must scramble together what they owe; too hot to work in America, they set their sights on Amsterdam.... where, not so coincidently, Rusty Ryan (Pitt) has an ex-love (Zeta-Jones) who just so happens to be head of police and hot on their trail. But Benedict and sexy cop Isabel Lahiri (Zeta-Jones) aren't the crew's only problem. Another thief under the alias of "nightfox" ( Vincent Cassel) is keen to battle it out with Ocean and his team; to decide who the best thief (or thieves) are.

And there you have Ocean's 12; a film which falls too short in terms of wit, appearance, plot... and pretty much everything else in comparison to the original Ocean's 11.

One thing must be made clear, however; the cast is great. Spectacular really. There is a definite and rare chemistry between everyone; even Catherina Zeta-Jones, newcomer to the Soderbergh film. And it is indeed very rare to jam-pack a film with so many big name celebs without the film being ruined by too much star power and not enough of anything else. And these films do indeed have A lot of Hollywood star power in them; Julia Roberts, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Catherina Zeta Jones, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle... just to name the biggest names. And watching Ocean's 11, you can tell that the crew enjoyed making this film. Unfortunately, the audience may not gain the same pleasure as the actors did....

If you were like me, absolutely blown away by the chic and jazzy first film, then Ocean's 12 will be a disappointment. The first movie was simply 'classy'. All of the shots, every single take, camera angles were all very clean-cut, solid and very stylish. In this film however, Soderbergh decides to use the currently popular 'shaky cam' technique for some scenes. I can understand why. In this film, unlike the first one, the crew haven't had time to plan to perfection their 'pull'. In this film its a mad rush to meet Benedict's deadline and I suppose Soderbergh wanted to get that rashness and disorientation across. But it wrecks the film. He really should have stuck to his original idea of having it all snazzy, bold and clean. Plus it is confusing when the film snaps between past and present to explain how the crew made some of their robberies; it looks messy and ugly to change between shaky cam to the bolder scenes.

Secondly, the laughs are fewer in 12 and the script is duller. Ocean's 11 had a quick-wit and many a memorable line. Ocean's 12 has to sink so low as to throw in an age joke for Clooney; "Do i look 50?". The plot is predictable; from Julia Robert's 'impersonation' to the crew's great escape. It's all very blunt and can be spotted a mile away. And the summing up of the 'pull' is a little confusing; past tense (there's that shaky cam again!). I cant give too much away but my personal opinion is that the explanation of how the team pulled of the robbery is a little confusing and a sort of "huh"? moment which you will need to disucss with other's who have seen the film, to make sure you absolutely understood everything.

All in all the film is a let down. By all means go and see it; if for no other reason than to drool over the gorgeous Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and George Clooney.... But do not get your hopes up. As the credits roll you will find yourself feeling cheated somehow. Ocean's 11 was a real gem but Ocean's 12 just leaves you pining for the original.... 5.5/10

When egos meet

[andrewwastie · 5/10 · 22 December 2004]

George : Hey guys, remember that movie we all did a few years back called Ocean's Eleven?

Brad : Course we do, we had such a great time.

Julia : And let's not forget we made stacks of money on it. It was a hit!

George : Well here's an idea….Let's make a sequel!

Matt : Fantastic idea! I mean the first one had all of us in it but most of all it was directed, had cool music, had lots of us in it and had a great script.

Brad : The script? Oh yeah, the script, whatever.

Julia : Let's do it. Everyone will love seeing us mugging it up on the screen. Steven Soderbergh's a friend of mine so he'll love directing us again.

George : Yeah, he'll do it. He won't have to work too hard though because it's got us in it. In fact he can just stuff around and experiment with all sorts of stupid camera angles.

Matt : Won't that just confuse the audience and make them dizzy?

George : Stuff that! Just so long as everyone can make out it's us up there on the screen they'll love it!

Matt : And the music??

Brad : Pfft! Music? No one goes to the movies for music. They want to see stars. Like us! Let's just have any old stupid music for this one.

Matt : That's fine. What about the script?

Brad : What is it with you and the script? Hey here's an idea. Julia, you're so famous and wonderful…

Julia : So are you Brad.

Brad : Thanks Julia. What I was saying was how about we have an entire sequence where your character pretends to be you! Everyone knows you're fantastic so they'll love it!

Matt : Great idea Brad. How do we fit that into the script?

George : Who cares??? It's Julia! Everyone will love it!

Julia : OK. How about we get someone else as famous and wonderful as us to join in the cast? The audience will love that.

George : Yeah, let's get Bruce Willis in a pointless uncredited cameo. He's never been too fussy about what movies he's made before. He's bound to say yes.

Matt : How do we fit him into the script?

George : Who cares??? It's Bruce Willis. Everyone will love it!

Julia : OK, who else?

Brad : I'm way ahead of you here, Julia. I've got a famous wife so let's get someone who is famous and wonderful, with a famous husband and who they audience will love if they see her and I having a romantic scene.

All : Catherine Zeta Jones!

George : I'll call her and see.

(Ring Ring)

Catherine : Hello. George : Hi Catherine, George Clooney here. You might remember working with me in Intolerable Cruelty…the audience loved it!

Catherine : Hi George. What's up?

George : We're making a sequel to Ocean's Eleven. It's got me and Brad and Julia and Matt in it. How'd you like to be in it too?

Catherine : Yeah sure. What's it about?

George : Who cares?? It's got me and Brad and Julia and Matt and you in it!!

Catherine : OK. But how about we film it in Europe? The audience will love that!

George : It's a deal. See ya.

Catherine : Bye

Julia : So how'd it go?

George : She's in AND she had a great idea. She reckons we could film it somewhere in Europe.

Brad : Fantastic!

Matt : So how does that fit into the script?

Julia : Who cares about the script!! It's got us in it! And anyone who liked Ocean's Eleven will get sucked into seeing it and by then it's too late for them to worry about the script because they've already paid their money.

George : And besides they'll love it because it's got me and Julia and Matt and Brad AND Catherine in it AND it will be filmed in Europe. Everyone will love it!

Matt : Great. Let's do it!!

……you get the idea.

a mistake

[Special-K88 · 18 December 2004]

Three years after Ocean's Eleven the gang's all back for more in this sequel. This time around the elusive group of thieves and con artists reunite and travel abroad to Europe to pull off another elaborate heist after vengeful casino mogul Terry Benedict (García) tracks them down looking for reimbursement. Little do they dream that they'll face stiff competition from a self-proclaimed criminal mastermind (Cassel) who's determined to try and upstage them. The latest in a long line of tepid Hollywood sequels; the cast may have had fun making this film but that doesn't mean the audience will as it drags on for over two hours with endless story lulls, self-conscious humor, and banal dialogue. One particularly embarrassing in-joke falls flat and leaves you wondering just how desperate the producers were to earn cheap laughs. The same group of gifted actors that made the original so special are wasted here, as the needlessly convoluted "script" lacks any wit, style, or sense of purpose. **

Ocean's Twelve: 6/10

[movieguy1021 · 6/10 · 15 December 2004]

It's inevitable, isn't it? After the success of the remake of Ocean's Eleven, out comes the sequel three years later. I liked the style of the teaser trailer (and was probably one of the only ones who didn't mind the name), so naturally, I was looking forward to the movie. Naturally, it's a sequel, so it's inferior to the original (which I liked more than the original of the original). The entire cast is back (plus one more, obviously) for the necessary foreign-country locations and trendy scene transitions. There's the constant music, the people with the general European accents (well, villains), and every other caper movie cliché in the books.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his eleven/twelve compadres are forced to pay back the money that they stole from Terry Benedict's (Andy Garcia) casinos three years earlier. To get the money, they have to steal it in Europe.

Where the first movie was fun, this sequel was mildly entertaining. It went on a little long, but was never boring. It's watchable (as all crime movies like these should be), but not really entertaining. I wasn't having fun while watching a lot of Ocean's Twelve. I wasn't bored, either. I was in Limbo of the movie world. All of the Vegas glitz added to the first, and here it's drab European backgrounds. Steven Soderbergh's directing also makes the film harder to enjoy. The film's choppy-we don't see events that happened until after the fact (if that makes any sense), and there are so many subplots and characters with similar sounding names that eventually we stop caring. Whenever a movie makes me do that, I usually focus more in on the fun aspects of the movie. And sure, the movie had its fun moments, and never left me bored, but overall, it just lacked that ultra-cool style that the first one had.

Then again, every actor's back in cool form. Catherine Zeta-Jones is the newbie here, and although her character is barely defined, she still manages to be cool. George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt (being on screen probably more than anyone else), Matt Damon-they're all cool. But it's obvious that this isn't the best sequel that could have been made for Ocean's Eleven-the movie was originally written for a completely different movie, and then readapted to a sequel. Because of that, there aren't really any reminders on who these people were. I remembered Clooney, Roberts, Garcia, and a few character names and quirks (such as Pitt's obsessive eating), but, really, who were these people? Did Soderbergh think that we would all rush out to see the first one before seeing this? I'll bet as many people did that as the number who went to see the Russian Solyaris after Soderbergh made Solaris.

The caper this time around isn't as interesting (the major one doesn't come in until halfway through), nor as easy to follow. In fact, the whole movie's basically a convoluted mess. The subplot about Isabel's father, things like that...if there's a definition of worthless, that's it. Also, that "Julia Roberts" bit went on for too long. We got the joke there. At that moment, I think that the movie thought it was funny enough to abandon basically the entire plot and go with a ten minute schtick, when there was basically no other humor in the movie. Still, Ocean's Twelve isn't terrible, and can offer a good time if you're the right person.

My rating: 6/10 Rated PG-13 for language.

A rather messy sequel

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 26 November 2017]

A few years have passed since Danny Ocean's band of thieves robbed Terry Benedict's casino in Las Vegas, now he has tracked them all down and he wants his money back with interest. Obviously most of the money has been spent; if they are to avoid being killed they will have to steal more within a fortnight. Since they are too well known in the United States they head to Europe and set about planning a job which has been given them by a contact. Their do the job but find somebody has got there before them and left a message. Danny immediately realises that this thief is the person responsible for telling Benedict where everybody was. The other thief is 'The Night Fox', a French master thief who sees himself as Number One. Danny meets him and they make a bet; each will try to steal a Faberge egg that is due to be exhibited in Rome; if Danny's gang gets it the Night Fox will pay their debts; if they lose Danny will acknowledge that The Night Fox is the better thief and Benedict will have his revenge! If that wasn't enough Europol agent Detective Isabel Lahiri, who had previously dated Danny's partner Rusty is hunting the gang and the Night Fox.

The previous film was a fun caper movie; with a bunch of thieves working together to rob a single 'impossible' target… this sequel has plenty of fun moments but it is too messy. Here we have two robberies, a rival thief determined to beat them, a cop who one of the team dated and the knowledge that if they fail Benedict will have them killed. There are some good jokes and at one point is gets very Meta as Danny's wife Tess, played by Julia Roberts, tries to pass herself off as Julia Roberts and meets Bruce Willis who is playing himself! While there is an obvious threat and at times it looks as if everything has gone wrong for the gang I don't imagine many viewers will think things won't work out for them in the end. The cast, which is almost entirely well known, do a solid job and are clearly having fun. Overall this is hardly a must see but it isn't terrible and is a pleasant enough way to pass a couple of hours.

Great Cast and Budget Wasted in an Awful Screenplay and Terrible Direction

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 11 June 2006]

The 2001 remake of Lewis Milestone's "Ocean's Eleven" is a good adventure, with action, comedy and thriller in an updated screenplay. When this sequel was released, I was impressed with the number of stars and locations mostly in Europe, and certainly a huge budget. Unfortunately, this movie does not have the most relevant component: a decent screenplay. The beginning is confused and most of the situations and dialogs are not funny, being indeed ridiculous; when the execution of the heist is disclosed in the end, it is ludicrous; and the absurd plot itself is totally unbelievable and does not work. The direction is also very bad, with horrible and weird movements of camera. Steven Soderbergh began his career with exceptional works, but his last films are very deceptive ("Full Frontal"(2002); "Solaris"(2002)). My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Doze Homens e Outro Segredo" ("Twelve Men and Other Secret")

I think the cast had a better time on this one than the public has, or maybe I just hope so

[stamper · 6/10 · 4 January 2005]

I went to this movie, not expecting much. Actually I didn't even intend to go, since I thought it would be a crap movie, but you know how it is when a friend of yours wants to go to the movies with you. SOmetimes it's just hard to pick a movie. I had coincidentally seen quite a few cinematic releases recently, he doesn't like Jim Carrey (Series of unfortunate Events) and the rest of the films are even more unappealing than Ocean's Twelve (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Alexander, The Grudge or some stupid dutch film like Floris). What do you do then? You settle for the lesser evil: Ocean's Twelve! Finally when you go to the cinema with expectations that low, you sometimes are surprised at how good the film actually is. Too bad Ocean's Twelve isn't one of them. I actually felt that the whole first hour of the film was pretty bad. It could have been much tighter, even in the beginning. I mean, why make the part with Benedict all so lengthy when god knows there are telephones and Danny Ocean is the leader. But that's not the main problem with this film. I mean while it is fun to see all the characters from the first film in action and the whole deal Julia Roberts in the hotel are well-meant the entire film has nothing of the adventure of the first. There is no excitement, no suspense, even no sexual tension between any of the characters.

I can see what the story is here, but it is just too elaborate and there are too many different set-up's. The whole thing is filmed in a very uninvolved and non-thrilling way, which is exasperated (I've seen Shaun of the dead as well!) by the fact that many to all of the heists and set-up's are revealed after they have already been made. Also: why set up another heist when you could set up Benedict again? The makers of the film clearly want to make you think they do it because they itch. Well make it clearer and more obvious to see. For I do not believe it after seeing this film.

When criticizing this movie, one has to include the cast and I must say that overall I was pretty disappointed with it. George Clooney didn't have any charisma this time around as Danny 'smooth operator' Ocean , Andy Garcia wasn't quite mean enough, I can't figure out why Bernie Mac was in the film and as already mentioned. So far as to doing you job badly. The rest of the cast was only mediocre, with the exception of Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts who did OK. Considering Vincent Cassel, I just thought he was miscast and the entire character structure was crap. I mean an adversary to THE GANG should have been much different than the character he played and his whole scheme and and his whole set-up could have been much more believable. No matter how mediocre I thought the acting was, it is not my intention to slam the actors here, for much of the blame can be allocated to the writers and the director.

Is there nothing good then here? Well, of course there are some nice moments in the film and it makes you smile at times. Of course it isn't a total snooze-fest and not utterly boring, but it compared to it's predecessor it really is A LOT worse. I'd actually given this one only a 5 out of 10, but because of some nice bits and that tad of charme that shine through at times I'll be gentle this time.

6 out of 10

post scriptum: please no Ocean's 13 or Ocean's 10 / Ocean's 9 (after one or two members of the crew have been kidnapped

I BEG YOU !!!!!!!!!!

Note: this review has been amended to remove some sexist comments I included at the time. Apologies for any offence caused. I was young and stupid at the time, thinking I was being 'cool'.

Self-referential: see "self-referential"

[John K.-2 · 8/10 · 25 January 2005]

Ocean's Twelve works for me because it's self-referential; in other words, it plants its tongue firmly in its cheek, and scatters references through the film to the real life people/situations behind the film. I can't tell you how without bringing down the wrath of the IMDb spoiler police on my head, but let's say that if you enjoy Hitchcock cameos or the humour of films such as Star Trek IV ("Computer? Computer!"), you should like this one.

It's also refreshing to see a film that treats Europe as being more than Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum. I actually watched it in Rome, one of the locations used in the film, and not a single ancient ruin appeared (apart from George Clooney ;->); indeed, the opening scene of a line of cars all sounding their horns was familiar enough to send a laugh around the Roman audience.

There were one or two plot oddities that'll probably show up in the IMDb goofs section (Arsenal FC going from Amsterdam to Barcelona?! By bus?!) but overall, a good night out.

Actually a little disappointing

[danielmanson · 6/10 · 13 August 2021]

I decided to watch this not long after watching the first one. And I have to say I'm actually a little disappointed in this one. I really enjoyed the first so I had good expectations for this. And it backfired on me.

So I want to start by saying it's not a bad film by any stretch. But, in comparison to what it could have been it's not great either. So my main issue with this is quite simply the writing. I just don't think it flowed well enough and the pace of the film was generally pretty slow throughout.

This film lacked that "wow" factor that the first film had as well. We got to witness this whole heist go down and that's what made everything fall into place and it's what made that film great. But, you don't get that this time round and the "heist" is incredibly underwhelming. I found the characters a little underwhelming also. The first film introduced them really well and they all illustrated certain quirks. This film really didn't show any of that anymore and some characters I genuinely forgot about mid film, because they were so spaced out and simply 'not there'.

A problem I had with the first instalment is that they tried including a romance storyline line and it just didn't really work. Nor did I care for it. And this went down the same route. I just don't think these kind of storylines are really needed for the type of film that it is.

But yeah, I'm just disappointed if anything. I really enjoyed the first and this in comparison is a let down. Like I mentioned before it's not a terrible movie. But there's a lot of room for improvement. It's got me nervous to watch the third film now.

Lazy and convoluted sequel, saved by the stellar playing of the cast and the efficient direction

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 15 January 2010]

I enjoyed Oceans 11, I thought it was quite enjoyable, helped by the performances and the direction. However, I was disappointed with this film. Don't get me wrong, it is not a complete dud, thanks to the stellar performances from Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney and Matt Damon especially and the efficient direction from Steven Soderbergh. However, the film really does suffer from truly lethargic pacing, some of the film was so slow I almost fell asleep between one key twist. Second, the plot is very convoluted and there are many twists and turns that makes it hard to keep up. The camera work wasn't as innovative as it was in the first movie either. Whereas in the first movie, it was smooth and professional, it was jerky and awkward here, and the music wasn't particularly memorable. The screenplay also wasn't as witty or as fun, and the film felt anti-climatic. At the end of the day it all felt a bit too lazy, despite the expert playing and direction. So much potential, but really a missed opportunity. 4/10 Bethany Cox

A Surprise!

[Maxi-14 · 10/10 · 6 May 2005]

I loved Ocean's Eleven so I was hesitant to watch the sequel but this didn't fall flat the way so many sequels do. It is strange in that it builds off the original, you would be lost without previous knowledge of Ocean's Eleven, but yet it has an entirely new tone and feeling as well as European look rather than the Vegas glitz of the first movie. I was very happy that all of the originals came back for the sequel. If you like a good action movie that keeps you guessing then this movie is for you. It was very nice to see Brad Pitt's character fleshed out more in this movie. I would like to have seen more of the banter between the Malloy brother characters but on the whole the movie left me wondering if there will be an Ocean's 13. There seemed to be an opening for one with where they left the Night Fox at the end of Ocean's Twelve.

Lazy sequel that insults not only the audience, but everyone involved in the movie.

[Son_of_Mansfield · 6/10 · 16 April 2005]

The scene between Danny, Rusty, Linus, and Matsui where Danny and Rusty laugh uncomfortably at Matsui's gibberish joke says it all. Everyone in this movie expected us to enjoy whatever was put in front of us, because this is just a "safe picture", as Matt Damon's boyfriend would say would say. So, what went wrong? There are so many obvious in-jokes, cheap jokes, leaps of logic that even die hard Ocean's Eleven fans should feel cheated. The f**k scene with Basher is a good example of the sledgehammer type of joking this movie expects us to swallow graciously. These stars think that we are so involved with them that all they need to do is show us that they can make fun of themselves. I don't know the name of Julia Roberts' daughter; and I don't care. All those scenes with Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis are painful in their smugness. This movie feels like a bunch of friends got together and decided, on a whim, to make a movie. Steven Soderbergh should get full marks for making Ocean's Eleven work and full blame for this sequel. He should have told everyone to work first and play second.

Even Sinatra would have said 'no'.

[mungo39 · 1/10 · 1 June 2005]

Unfortunately I think this is one of those films that if you or I took it to the studio and said, 'can I make this great movie with my friends Mary, Mungo and Midge from school?' the studio would have you kicked to death on the spot. However, if a bunch of massive Hollywood names say, 'look, I fancy a jaunt to Italy with my mates, how about it?' the studio writes a cheque.

We kick off with the casino boss from Ocean's 11 tracking down the robbers who made off with his cash, and then Brad Pitt is shagging Catherine Zeta Jones, and then there's some monkeying about in Amsterdam and Italy and such and such and then it all ends somehow.

The film does, however, include the most shameful moment of both Julia Roberts' and Bruce Willis' careers, which is a cinematic gem. I nearly vomited in my lap and tore my eyes out when Julia Roberts, playing Tess in the movie, pretends to be (you guessed it) Julia Roberts! Bruce Willis stands about clearly wondering when he can leave, and how much the cheque will be.

Ah well, to be fair, I'd have done it for the cash, so I suppose I can't really criticize the poor loves, but I'm a penniless slob not a Hollywood legend. I guess what really annoys me about this film is not that it is boring and pointless and has a terrible story, but that I think the actors probably all had good fun doing it! I think the actor's entire job is to project emotion outwards...I feel like I paid to go to the party, but had to stand outside in the rain. Booo!

Watch it if you like Como, or fancy CZJ or something, but otherwise go for a walk.

Lacks The Freshness Of The Original And Doesn't Add Anything Of Substance

[CinemaClown · 8 September 2017]

Lacking the freshness of the original and going a bit overboard with its twists n turns, the follow-up chapter to Ocean's Eleven does exhibit the lavish look & carefree vibe of its predecessor and adds a couple more charismatic actors to its ensemble but its story is weak and only gets messier as it progresses.

Taking place some time after the events of the previous film, Ocean's Twelve brings back all the members of the original team as they battle against time to pay back all the money they stole from the owner of Las Vegas casinos, with interest. To meet the demand, they decide to pull off another heist, however, there's a new player in town.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the film picks up from where it left off in the last picture and doesn't take long to bring all of them back into the same room. The basic storyline is interesting but how the events unfold in the final print is where the problem arises, not to mention that the subplots relating to new characters don't add anything of significance.

The sumptuous look n feel is retained and the European scenery is beautifully photographed. The smart manoeuvring of camera & refined use of colour palette adds a vibrant quality to its images. Editing is a mixed bag, however, as the numerous twists don't carry the same weight and appears forced into the narrative. And the background score doesn't have anything new to add either.

Coming to the performances, pretty much the entire cast of Ocean's Eleven make their appearance in this one with Clooney & Pitt leading the pack like before while the new additions include Vincent Cassel & Catherine Zeta-Jones who play their part responsibly but their respective characters are very poorly sketched. Roberts however gets additional screen time and is able to improve on her earlier input.

On an overall scale, Ocean's Twelve is an inferior sequel by all means that does take the arcs of its characters a little forward but doesn't add anything of substance. What's also disappointing is the climax that's far more ridiculous this time and seems way far-fetched than it did the last time. Still, there's some fun, laughs & amusement in store but if you're expecting a sequel that improves upon the original, then Ocean's Twelve isn't one of those.

Too clever for it's own good.

[stevetseitz · 6/10 · 12 December 2004]

A heist movie works on the premise that the audience is in on the heist. We dread the incredible security measures. We get to see the planning and the development. We marvel at the skills of each expert. We experience the same suspense and drama as the characters. Ocean's Twelve discards all these elements in favor of creative editing, avant garde camera work and superficial writing. It tries to extract great performances from so-so actors. O.K. so they all are beautiful people. That doesn't mean they are automatically the best actors. It doesn't mean that they can carry a film on their performances. Clooney and Pitt are no Newman and Redford. The acting talents of Catherince Zeta-Jones have never been anything to write home about. Only Finney in a tiny cameo draws any real emotion from the audience.

The best heist movies have real suspense. This film has none. The outcome is never in doubt. No matter how the surface of the plan is seemingly foiled...everyone is in on the far deeper "actual" plan.

On major problem is Garcia's character.

If the original "11" successfully pulled off the job we are made to believe they did in the first film, they wouldn't panic and crumble like a house of cards to Benedict's pressure and scare tactics. In fact, once a member of the cadre had been contacted, survelliance would have captured Benedict's strong arm tactics and bellicose threats immediately. The man would have legal challenges beyond belief.

It's not enough to know who robbed you. You must have proof, otherwise the worst threats would be a laughing matter for seasoned pros.

Twelve is just so much lazier than Eleven.

[matthewssilverhammer · 7/10 · 20 June 2018]

Instead of giving of us well-thought-out & cleverly written explanations for how things happen or why people tick, it shows us the bare minimum, hoping to glide by on its coolness. It doesn't quite work. Everything that's good here (performances, dialogue, music, characters) is either as good or better in the first, & everything that's bad here (emotional connections, heists, villains, general freshness) is done well in the first. Fun at times, but mostly a cheap imitation.

Too disjointed story structure. Tried to be too smart. Never equalled the brilliance of the original.

[imseeg · 7/10 · 10 February 2020]

They tried to make a great sequel and they failed. BUT nevertheless it is still a mildly enjoyable heist movie, despite being less good than the original Ocean's Eleven, which was absolutely brilliant.

The bad: too disjointed story structure. The story basically is a mess and almost incomprehensible and quite silly near the end. There are simply too many scenes that dont add anything to the story. There are 2 villains now instead of one. There are 2 romances now instead of 1. There are 2 heists now instead of 1. Double cross upon double cross. They multiplied everything, they added things and added even more things on top of that, but that made the story only more chaotic and less coherent. What a mess...

The good: judged by each of the scenes individually, they are often still quite funny and well acted by terrific actors. I mean, what a dream cast of stars! Lots of good tongue in cheek jokes can still be heard.

I would still NOT recommend it to anyone, unless you wanna pass the time and you have nothing better to watch...Simply watch the original again, because the original is heavenly and brilliant, everything the sequel is NOT. NOT.

Good follow-up

[briancham1994 · 7/10 · 2 June 2020]

It's not as great as the original, but it still features all the things that made it good - interesting plots, enticing story and cool characters. Good fun that takes you along for a ride.

The Best Ocean's movie

[Criticalstaff · 8/10 · 31 May 2020]

This movie is quite fun. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. It is not quite a heist movie; it is rather a comedy on the previous heist movie.

So to put things into perspective, when the Oceans Trilogy was done the consensus was that 11 was an instant cult-classic, 12 was a weird disappointment and 13 a highly welcomed return to the roots. As in many cases (Alien 4 or Ang Lee's Hulk, Starship Troopers) sometimes everybody is wrong and only later we rediscover how beautiful, poignant or visionary certain art can be. I am re-watching the series more than a decade later and I am surprised how wrong the zeitgeist was. 11 is very dated, 13 is pure garbage and 12 is actually not bad.

Oceans Twelve is actually the diamond in the rough. The forgotten gem. The overlooked ugly duckling of the trilogy(universe). I low-key love this movie. It is not perfect, it is not the best movie ever. But especially after watching Ocean Eleven, this movie was so refreshing, funny, original and interesting. It is not surprising on paper : Oceans Twelve enjoys doing the opposite of 11. I think it adds to the quality of the film, Twelve is fairly meta and loves no to take things too seriously. That is already the case in 11, and it bothered me. Because there was no reason these character acted so nonchalantly. The charm was not earned. The characters were not caricatures, they were played straight. They were the best and the coolest not by doing anything but just by being there. They had all the skills and they were the best at them. In this movie the main characters Clooney and Pitt are acknowledged to not have any skill whatsoever. In this movie, they are plain assholes. And it is great. Of course it is intended to be ironic, but I think it works towards the film. In that regard the movie is rightfully the sequel of 11, where Clooney and Pitt do something that they think is clever but that is not in reality. In addition, the irony that the film wants to convey is not aimed towards Danny Ocean and Rusty, the characters or the plot; but it is towards Clooney and Pitt themselves. How funny the films thinks it is when Pitt and Clooney watch Oprah on the couch, while trying to fall asleep. The film involuntarily builds its characters through these inside jokes. And of course it is bad. But it is so bad it's good. Same with the scene Matt Damon asking for a bigger role, same with the Julia Roberts as Julia Roberts cameo. This film works because it is an inversion of the first movie. You see Clooney and Roberts actually interact here, they have affection, they have a secret code, we get why they are together. Pitt plays Rusty as a suave seducer, which is hiding how clueless he is, we get an understanding of his characters because we see his failings. Everybody plays a caricature of themselves, and it works because the movie is in on it. The movie does not understand why it is funny, but we do. My favorite scene is when Matt Damon takes a moment to ask if we should make fun of a handicapped person, and everybody shoots him down. I loved it because the movie then proceeds to go with it anyway. My enjoyment of this movie comes in larger part from the contrast with the first one. However the movie also tries in many ways to subvert the heist movie tropes. Again that is why this one is more watchable 20 years later. The heist in this movie is basically an anti-heist. And I don't really mind. Ocean 11 also at its core did not care for the heist, which made me ask to myself why the audience should. Here the movie does not care and we should not care. Here the movie is pure charm; you get to spend 2h in travelling through Europe with the gang. That is it. This is just a big excuse to spend some time with these guys. And it is actually enjoyable, because the locations are cool and exotic and not fake with the veneer of luxury, the music is cool and not recycled, and characters seem genuine and not artificial. The first movie spent actually a lot of effort to try to not take things too seriously. Twelve actually does take things less seriously. And this were you find the reason why people hated it. It builds on the first movie, but it goes resolutely against the grain. On purpose. So it is at the same time the best sequel, because it takes the first movie at face value and asks what do these characters do after they've executed the biggest heist ever. And for someone looking to have the same movie as the last time, it is the worst sequel. You could throw the whole Oceans trilogy in the garbage if wasn't for this movie, that is why it is hands down the best Ocean's movie.

Posted : This movie is quite fun. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one. It is not quite a heist movie; it is rather a comedy on the previous heist movie.

To put things into perspective, when the Oceans Trilogy was done the consensus was that 11 was an instant cult-classic, 12 was a weird disappointment and 13 a highly welcomed return to the roots. As in many cases (Alien 4 or Ang Lee's Hulk, Starship Troopers) sometimes everybody is wrong and only later we rediscover how beautiful, poignant or visionary certain art can be.

I am re-watching the series more than a decade later and I am surprised how wrong the zeitgeist was. 11 is very dated, 13 is pure garbage and 12 is actually not bad.

Oceans Twelve is actually the diamond in the rough. The forgotten gem. The overlooked ugly duckling of the trilogy(universe). I low-key love this movie. It is not perfect, it is not the best movie ever. But especially after watching Ocean Eleven, this movie was so refreshing, funny, original and interesting.

It is not surprising on paper : Oceans Twelve enjoys doing the opposite of 11. I think it adds to the quality of the film, Twelve is fairly meta and loves not to take things too seriously. That is already the case in 11, and it bothered me. Because there was no reason these character acted so nonchalantly. The charm was not earned. The characters were not caricatures, they were played straight. They were the best and the coolest not by doing anything but just by being there. They had all the skills and they were the best at them.

In this movie the main characters Clooney and Pitt are acknowledged to not have any skill whatsoever. In this movie, they are plain assholes. And it is great. Of course it is intended to be ironic, but it works towards the film. In that regard the movie is rightfully the sequel of 11, where Clooney and Pitt do something that they think is clever but it is not in reality. In addition, the irony that the film wants to convey is not aimed towards Danny Ocean and Rusty, the characters or the plot; but it is towards Clooney and Pitt themselves. How funny the films thinks it is when Pitt and Clooney watch Happy Days on the couch, while trying to fall asleep. The film involuntarily builds its characters through these inside jokes. And of course it is bad. But it is so bad it's good. Same with the scene Matt Damon asking for a bigger role, same with the Julia Roberts as Julia Roberts cameo.

This film works because it is an inversion of the first movie. You see Clooney and Roberts actually interact here, they have affection, they have a secret code, we get why they are together. Pitt plays Rusty as a suave seducer, which is hiding how clueless he is, we get an understanding of his characters because we see his failings. Everybody plays a caricature of themselves, and it works because the movie is in on it. The movie may not even understand why it is funny, but we do. My favorite scene is when Matt Damon takes a moment to ask if we should make fun of a handicapped person, and everybody shoots him down. I loved it because the movie then proceeds to go with it anyway.

My enjoyment of this movie comes in larger part from the contrast with the first one. However the movie also tries in many ways to subvert the heist movie tropes. Again that is why this one is more watchable 20 years later. The heist in this movie is basically an anti-heist. And I don't really mind. Ocean 11 also at the core did not care for the heist, which made me ask to myself why the audience should. Here the movie does not care and we should not care. Here the movie is pure charm; you get to spend 2h in travelling through Europe with the gang. That is it. This is just a big excuse to spend some time with these guys. And that is actually enjoyable, because the locations are cool and exotic and not fake with the veneer of luxury, the music is cool and not recycled, and characters seem genuine and not artificial.

The first movie spent actually a lot of effort to try to not take things too seriously. Twelve actually does take things less seriously. And this were you find the reason why people hated it. It builds on the first movie, but it goes resolutely against the grain. On purpose. So it is at the same time the best sequel, because it takes the first movie at face value and asks what do these characters do after they've executed the biggest heist ever. And for someone looking to have the same movie as the last time, it is the worst sequel. You could throw the whole Oceans trilogy in the garbage if wasn't for this movie, that is why it is hands down the best Ocean's movie.

Very Entertaining if not disappointing

[MartynGryphon · 7/10 · 15 February 2005]

Oceans 12 has been given a lot of bad press, Some, if not most of it, deserved. However, there is no escaping the fact that this is a very funny and very entertaining movie.

The film does have it's bad points though, first of all Andy Garcia reprising his role as Casino Owner Terry Benedict, is hardly given screen time apart for some at the beginning and some at the end, as a result the film is robbed of a really menacing 'bad guy' even though our hero's are in fact villains themselves. With this in mind I cannot help but feel that the trailer is somewhat misleading, as it wrongly portrays Benedict to be a major protagonist in this sequel, when he's there only to flesh out the plot.

Three good things about this movie is Matt Damon, Matt Damon and Matt Damon as he is the only person on the screen that is taking his role half seriously, and he's a delight to watch, especially when he takes the reigns when most of his cohorts are incarcerated.

Most of the cast from the first film, seems to be there only to tie it in with oceans 11 as Elliott Gould hardly says a thing neither does Carl Riener, and Bernie Mac spends the majority of the movie in a dutch prison and is hardly seen.

Clooney and Pitt, don't seem as cool or as smart as in the 1st movie, and the whole team show themselves to be nothing more than frightened children afraid of the boogeyman, when confronted with an irate hotel owner to whom they owe nearly $200 million. So in contrast from the 'who care's who we're stealing from' type of guys we were introduced to a couple of years ago. This is where the disappointment of the movie comes.

Catherine Zeta Jones, is introduced as some Interpol type of cop, who conveniently used to have an affair with Pitt's character, and for the first time in ages, she doesn't adopt a phony American accent, which subsequently make this one of her less annoying roles.

We are also introduced to a character called 'nightfox' who tries to steal a faberge egg by somersaults, back flipping and dancing over the laser floor sensors, just like erm....Catherine Zeta Jones did in Entrapment.

I almost die form Calcium overdose when the movie gets so cheesy to include a scene with Bruce Willis as Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts, pretending to be Julia Roberts, the cheese continues, when a woman comes to question the group from prison, which, (and quite predictably might I add), turns out to be Damon's Characters Mother. and the mozzarella marathon continues in the clichéd and predictable scene where Jones is reunited with her father.

Contrary to the shape my review is taking, I did like the movie, and there was enough shenanigans to keep me chuckling throughout. However, a further sequel would be ill advised as it in no way stands up to the 1st movie.

This movie will not win any Oscars, but an award should be given to Casey Afflecks Moustache, for 'best supporting actor in a comedy role' such is it's hilarity.

The Ultimate Heist Movie-- *I* was Robbed!

[katmarsen · 2/10 · 11 December 2004]

SPOILER!! Terrible camera work, horrible writing, non-existent plot, and numerous plot wholes. Wonderful acting! Except for Julia Roberts. Who poorly plays someone who is impersonating Julia Roberts, poorly. Catherine Zeta Jones is adorable in this movie.

During the movie, we repeatedly zoom in, on each of the twelve (!) characters. Twelve is too many, even for a classic like 12 Angry Men. And the problem is, we tediously zoom in on the characters, when all of them are in the same room, doing the same thing.

Yep, Clooney's eating. Yep, Pitt's eating. Yep, the "Jew" is eating. Yep, the geek is eating. Yep, the bodybuilder's eating. Yep, Mr. Sensitive is eating. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep--Yep. Yep. Phew! This happens at least three other times in the movie. Yep, they're all sitting in cars, bored. Yep, they're all getting arrested, frightened. Yep, they're all being led out of a jail, depressed.

But it wasn't until I was home that I realized how badly they'd "got" me on this one. This is a heist movie, right? That's what I went to see, right? But when I walked in and set my car keys in the change jar, only then I realized: NOTHING WAS ACTUALLY STOLEN IN THIS MOVIE! That's right. It's a heist movie, where nothing gets stolen. Oh, they try. They go to try and steal some boring document or something, from some guy's house (whatever), and it turns out it's already been stolen. 20 minutes of my life, wasted. Then they try to steal some egg from some museum (YAWN!), and they screw that up and get arrested.

Then we see how some fairy french guy stole the egg even before they did, and we get all the joy of "Entrapment", except this time the person inside the tight catsuit dancing around the fake lasers is... an ugly skinny french guy. Um.

But it turns out he didn't actually steal the egg either. Actually, our heroes stole the egg, LOOOONG ago, in another movie entirely, which would have been a GREAT movie to watch, had they made that movie.

Instead we see a 30 second clip in black-and-white about how they robbed some college student of his back-pack. You heard me... the daring caper, the ultimate heist-- the buildup of this 2 and a half hours of utter boring crap-- is them stealing a back-pack from a college student, by creatively getting into a fight over baseball teams and distracting him, and replacing his back-pack with an identical back-pack? What??

Ugh. I'm telling you, this was so bad, I didn't even realize just how bad it was-- just how badly I'd been robbed-- until I got home.

Cool

[bevo-13678 · 10/10 · 1 April 2020]

The best of all the oceans movies. I like the dancing bit with the lasers

Nothing like the original

[iohefy-2 · 6/10 · 23 December 2004]

It has been some time since I saw Oceans 11, and I really enjoyed it. When I heard that Oceans 12 was coming I was really looking forward to seeing the movie. Well I went to the sneak preview here in Charlotte, and to say that I was disappointed is mild. It would seem that when a second version of a story comes out it is no where as good as the original. They certainly had the stars to draw people into the movie, like Brad Pitt, George Clooney,Julia Roberts and the addition of Catherine Zeta Jones. These stars did nothing to help with a weak story. This is another on a long list of "wait for the video to come out" you will save the price of admission

I'd might expect this crap from this cast...but from Soderbergh?

[crliston1 · 4/10 · 12 December 2004]

Every James Bond movie has its own set of rules. Just like every Indiana Jones movie has ITS own set of rules. And the fact that screenwriters don't break these rules maintains the integrity of the characters. With a completely unnecessary plot twist, the integrity of both Ocean films plummets somewhere between Airplane 2 and a Roadrunner cartoon.

Imagine what would happen, while teetering on the rope bridge outside of the Temple of Doom, if Indy told Shorty and Willie not to worry because throughout the entire first two movies he's secretly had super powers and can fly them both to safety.

Entertaining? Sure, for a Roadrunner cartoon. But Spielberg would never have done that because it would have destroyed the integrity of the film. More importantly, it would have ANGERED the audience. They'd already sat on the edge of their seats through 3 hours worth of Indiana Jones movies and they were counting on Indiana to get them off that bridge in a believable way. If he were to fly off? People would have walked out of the theaters the same way people did during Ocean's 12.

SPOILERS

1. Julia Roberts'character, Tess, infiltrates a museum by disguising herself as...Julia Roberts?!? A clever twist? By breaking the fourth wall three hours after we've been introduced to these characters? Is this the Naked Gun 33 and 1/3? It's a textbook example of how a cheap laugh can ruin an entire film. But wait...just in case you haven't walked out yet...

2. The suspense builds throughout the last hour of the movie -- how will they pull off the heist -- there are only 10...8...5...2 DAYS LEFT! And then in the last 12 minutes of the film, the ONLY entertaining part of this movie, we see that the heist was made days earlier and took Matt Damon all of 30 seconds to pull off. The past 10 days? A complete waste of your time.

BACK TO INDIANA JONES ON THE ROPE BRIDGE..."Just relax, Willie! I stole the REAL stones back about a month ago! Besides, I convinced them you were Kate Capshaw!"

If you haven't already seen it, cut your losses and go see the Polar Express. I don't want to ruin the ending for you, but there really is a Santa Claus. Most importantly, you won't feel cheated leaving the theater.