See, now, there are "third" movies (triquels?) that don't live up to the promise of the other two... and there are "third" movies that do...Shrek the Third was a little bit of the former... but Ocean's Thirteen was very much the latter...
Actually, Thirteen lived up to the promise laid down by Eleven... because, frankly, Twelve was a big fat STINKER! So much so that I was a little hesitant to go and see this new instalment... fearing it would just be more of the same. But they definitely returned to form this time around... it's fast, it's witty, it's beautifully lush to look at (well, in that whole Vegas casino kind of way)... and, well, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Scott Caan (see my earlier point about beautifully lush to look at and times it by three)... and yeah, I guess George Clooney too (I'm not generally a big fan, but there is something about his Danny Ocean character)... the only downside was a total and complete lack of Julia Roberts... but there wasn't really a part for her, at least not without just shoehorning her in at the beginning or something.
It was also nice to see a bunch of the folks from the previous movies popping back again here and there... you know, other than the original eleven guys... Bruiser (who actually showed up in both movies, although I don't remember him from the sequel, and his part this time around was a "blink and you'll miss him"), Vincent Cassel (the villain of the last movie) and last but not least Eddie Izzard (who I have a big soft spot for... and who, also, was in the second movie, although I honestly don't remember him... I think I blocked large chunks of that movie out of my mind)...
It's definitely one of those movies that will make more sense and also become more enjoyable on the third or fourth viewing... there's too much going on (although not really in a bad way, it's just fast paced), and too much that they're not letting you in on because of the whole "con"... so you miss little bits and pieces... like I didn't actually realise who Vincent Cassel's character was until the very end of the movie... although that could have been something the film makers did intentionally... you know, to add confusion.
I will say that everything is SO much bigger in this movie than it was in Eleven... a bigger casino, a bigger scam, a bigger payoff... bigger everything really... but it always manages (I think), to stay just this side of really, really silly... granted there is a whole world of "suspension of disbelief", but I think it all holds together nicely. The only thing that I'm not sure is "bigger" is the villain... don't get me wrong, Al Pacino does a good job (even if there are some very small instances of scenery chewing)... but Andy Garcia was such a good villain in the first one, that just takes some topping.
Oh, and we finally get to see the rest of Rusty's tattoo...
yani's rating: 4 loaded dice out of 5
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