It's hard to brand Ocean’s 13 as part of a trilogy more like part of a sequence films one after the other. Like the first of the series, Ocean's is set in Las Vegas and though returning to the scene of the crime can be unlucky for some for Clooney's frat-pack it proves just the catalyst to take down new big-shot Willie Banks (Al Pacino) after double crossing fellow casino-extraordinaire Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould). Scorsese directs a film that follows the summer box-office three-quels and with Spidey, Shrek and Pirates already having broken the banks of its audiences Ocean’s looks to do just that.

With the trio of Clooney, Pitt and Damon returning there is certainly enough A-List stars to keep interest, and with an excellent support-cast (including the “Amazing Yen”) there’s also familiarity to be found. In fact the almost-complete male cast (Roberts and Zeta-Jones are instantly written off in the first scene) keeps the plot fresh and focused, with Ellen Barkin providing the only “love-ish” interest in the film. It’s easy to argue that with all this eye-candy on screen that the film is all about style and looks … which is certainly very true. Nevertheless that isn’t a flaw and with Soderbergh adding subtle “in-jokes” references to reality, you really feel that this film is as much as elegant as it is comedic. Actually one of the best scenes in the entire film involves Ocean (Clooney), Rusty (Pitt) and Oprah proving that with every con-man there is an emotional side! It’s difficult to pigeon-hole Ocean’s into any genre and though there aren’t gun-ho action sequences (indeed the only shots fired are at Banks) the crew bluff, double-bluff and blag their way to a smart and likeable ending.

Many eyebrows were raised after the nonsensical second adventure of Danny Ocean, but its far better sequel (that’s not too far off the 2001 original) is almost an apology note to the audience. Consequently it proves that not only returning to the scene of the crime can bring good luck but that all good things come (and usually end) in threes.

By Joel Girling

Source: www.articlesphere.com