Ocean's Thirteen

We love thieves. Not some dude who breaks into your car or pulls a gun on you in a dark alley. Those guys suck. No, we love heist-pulling, safe cracking, masterminding, acrobatically flipping, car chasing thieves. You know, the kind that only exist in movies. They act a whole lot like Bond, all classy, sneaky, and above the law. But instead of saving the world they're sticking it to the man whilst serving themselves.

Ocean's Eleven was a great heist film. A big fancy pants cast with a nice elaborate heist and just the right amount of twists, all set to great music... what's there not to like?

Ocean's Twelve I didn't care for as much. It was fine, but it got a little too elaborate and twisty for my tastes. Plus it lost the unifying goal of nailing the casinos - a villain that we can all easily unite against.

Ocean's Thirteen is a return to the first movie. We're back in Vegas, although this time we're sticking it to Al Pacino instead of Andy Garcia. There are still twists, but not to the extent of "everything you saw in the last 30 minutes was a lie." The scale is much more reasonable… well except that whole business with the Chunnel drill. The result is that the film doesn't have a mega climax with everything is being turned on its head left and right. But I really don't have a problem with that, I love it when a plan comes together. Instead of being on the edge of your seat, Ocean's Thirteen is more like a laid back music video. Pleasant sights and sounds, not too much thinking, but satisfying.