In Continuum.

Ocean's Thirteen



A couple of things are going to bug you the moment you step out from the theater after watching Ocean's Thirteen. Number one, you are going to have a repeating soundtrack of slick, suave and smooth music in your head. Number two, you are going to feel like you are part of a heist even as you are walking down the staircases, getting into your car or even answering a simple phone message. In fact, words like "I just watched Ocean's Thirteen" could very well be the cue for part of your team to execute a part of a greater scheme. Number three, you are probably going to have a mental image of yourself wrapped up in black, tight-fitting suit, dangling from the top of a vault with glistering bars of gold underneath you. Number four, you would've fallen in love with either Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, ShaoBo Qin, the whole of Ocean's crew, or like myself - Ellen Barkin (Come on, for a 53 year old she is REALLY hot).

The only disappointment of Ocean's Thirteen is probably the fact that it runs at merely 122 minutes. It was just to fun to watching a bunch of Hollywood A-list actors running around a casino, trying to take down the ultimate Las Vegas villain - Willie Banks, played by Al Pacino. Similar to the first two Ocean's movies, you can hardly tell if the actors are acting at all. They blend so well into each other like a perfect chemical reaction, you wonder if the actors were paid to be themselves and have fun on screen. Because truly, this movie is more than just a film to entertain the audience, but a film acting as a sort of class gathering of sorts. To take another shot at the nut and see what happens, that's probably when Steven Sooderbergh had in mind when he made the movie. And after the disaster of Ocean's Twelve, I'm sure the urge to crack the nut all over again was stronger than ever.

Ocean's team is back, and this time round they are not in it for the money - well, not really anyway. The boys are back to avenge one of their team mates, Reuben, who was back-stabbed and double-billed by Willie Bank. Months before the completion of a new casino, Reuben was kicked out of the project and fell into comatose due to shock. Daniel Ocean(George Clooney), alongside Rusty(Brad Pitt), brought the gang back together for a shot at Reuben's revenge. However, because of all the heists that they pulled over the years, they were short on funding about midway through the movie. So an old nemesis comes along to aid them in their operation - someone with the same agenda in mind - Terry Benedict. Because Willie Bank's new casino is blocking the sunlight in his own casino's swimming pools, he wants to see it torn down to shreds just as much as Ocean's team. Thus, the game is set that is more exciting than winning at the Roulette table.

Like before, everybody has a part to play in this movie. Coupled with the little acts you get to see these Hollywood A-list actors play out, you get to see the Ocean-type humor - the type you can only get from a Steven Soderbergh movie. Once again, the odds of getting even is high, and the boys are met with different obstacles throughout the film. Everything from the failed attempt to rig a blackjack machine, to a giant drill that went out of operation. However, Ocean and team never broke a sweat when dealing with these problems, and found their ways through them with so much ease that the words 'problem' really shouldn't be used to describe them at all.

Once again, you see Steven Soderbergh having a whole lot of fun with the camera. This is the director with a gift of unconventionality, somebody who dares to go against the rules. You can see his style before the camera, and himself behind the camera in every shot, and that is something not every director can do. Though not nearly as tight as the first movie, Steven managed to redeem himself of the second movie this time, by pacing the movie just right and pushing the story ever forwards, always making the audience guess and wonder about the next step in the master plan without losing the attention of the audience. And to add on to that, there are certain humor only Chinese-speaking people will understand. Look out for Shaobo Qin's hilarious nicknames for the gang throughout the movie.

With the heist aside, the cast is just back to have a lot of fun - again - this time. It felt like a great big theme party of some kind, with the actors dressing up as anything from a Geologist, to a motor-cycle riding daredevil, to the assistant of a Chinese businessman with a nose that rivals Barbara Streisand. To have Al Pacino - the same man that shot Mr. Trask down in Scent of a Woman, the man who played the Devil in Devil's Advocate, the man who played the tough cop that brought down Robert De Niro in Heat - played around by the boys throughout the movie was painful for me as a fan. But at the same time, it was nice to see him in a different role - this time as the ultimate bastard of the world of casinos. All the while, Willie Banks remains oblivious to all the tricks being pulled around him, and you start to wonder if his ego finally blew out of proportions. And to see Terry Benedict step in as part of the heist was a breath of fresh air. Do look out for his fate at the very end of the movie, particularly through the television monitors at the airport. Funniest part of the show.

The problem with the second movie is that the heist was a little too complicated and over the top. The brilliant thing about Ocean's Eleven was how outrageous the heist was, but at the same time it was realistic. The second movie pushed that a little too far when they started tilting a house literally, on hydraulic-powered lifts. In this movie however, the boys relied on old school methods of robbing somebody blind. Anything that involved drills, dressing-up, explosives and the likes were involved. Of course, they also managed to create a natural disaster in the movie, but at least the concept of it was more realistic than lifting a whole house, for example. Also, with the element of revenge eminent in this movie, the heist itself then becomes a little more interesting. Instead of the usual "Cool, slick robbers trying to get some money", this time it is about friendships and loyalties, and I really liked that about the movie.

When you talk about an Ocean's movie, people are going to talk about the music. Because this time around, David Holmes brought it home once again, bringing the essence of Las Vegas into this movie, the way he did for the last two films. Despite the failing of the second movie - according to the critics but not me. I thought it was decent - the soundtrack of it was brilliant. $160 Million Dollar Chinese Man still remains as the top song for me to play while walking down Orchard Road with the ear pieces in my ears. This time, I thought that music wasn't as fully utilized as the last two films. A lot of scenes were actor/dialogue driven. That is fine, but not Ocean's style of music anyway. However, I am downloading the soundtrack as I am typin this. Because the track "Snake Eyes" when they are conning Willie Banks is just unforgettable.

All and all, it was an enjoyable movie to just spend the afternoon with. Though not nearly as established and planned out as the first Ocean's movie, it sure is miles better than the second movie in every aspect. As a fan of Steven Soderbergh and his gang, it is not difficult to go into one of these movies to enjoy it thoroughly. Even if it is not going to be for the plot or the actors, you are definitely going to take away something from this movie, which is going to make you smile even on your way home. If nothing else, Ellen Barkin is one hot woman at 53 years old. I'd stand in for Linus, any day.

Like what most critics agreed on, this is the first 'three-quel' that did not fall flat on its face. Let's face it, Shrek 3 was unfunny. Spider-man 3 was more like a soap opera, and Pirates 3 sucked donkey balls. Everybody is defending these movies because of hot cute the gingerbread man was, how cool the effects were in the Spidey movies, or how handsome Johnny Depp was. But let's face it, they cannot even hold a candle against Ocean and his team. At the end of the day, the house always wins. Play long enough, you never change the stakes. The house takes you. Unless, when that perfect hand comes along, you bet and you bet big, then you take the house.

And Ocean's Thirteen most definitely, took it.