Ocean's Thirteen (2007, DVD)

I love movies where you like the bad guys. Only the best directors and best casting combine to make "likeable bad guys". The Ocean's 11 movies are examples of great casting and great directing combining to make "likeable bad guys".

In this installment, the Ocean's Gang unites to seek out revenge when a Casino mogul reneges on a partnership with one of the crew.

I know this sounds cliche, but this is the 3rd best Ocean's movie in the 3 part series thus far.

This movie chose a slightly different directoral path - by revealing the "how" of the con the entire movie. While there is a very interesting twist at the end, the action comes more from the improvisation and intelligence of the Ocean's Gang in this film.

I particularly liked the odes to Sinatra (who originally played Danny Ocean). I also enjoyed seeing Super Dave Osborne as one of the stars.

In some places the dialogue is a little too wordy and was kind of hard to follow.

You don't really have to have seen the other two for this movie to make sense, but it does help.

Ocean's 11 is the strongest movie in the series of Clooney starring as Daniel Ocean.

Well not that great. The story is entertaining and simple enough. Ocean's 13 are all about the cast of characters, their chemistry together, and their interactions with each other. Returning director Steven Soderbergh excitedly plays and toys with the camera with different angles, different kinds of shots, wide variety of lengths of shots, and even borrowing a technique that was made famous in Fight Club. While its nothing experimental, Soderbergh does a good job showcasing a story using a variety of techniques so the movie never even considers looking stale. Completing the directing is a sort of old-school vibe that accompanies the soundtrack. It begins to look so dated that you might expect even Sinatra to make an appearance.

Pacing is what turn-off some moviegoers, and pretty much what destroyed Ocean's 12 (despite the unforgivable plot). Unlike recent third installments, the pacing here remains consistent, and for the most part works well. The majority of Ocean's 13 is setting up the grand scheme, which ranges from an underground bunker in Nevada to a factory in Mexico. The third act is when the plan starts getting off the ground, and the payoff is definitely great for the audience and the lucky cast of gamblers unaware of what is about to unfold.

Bottom Line: Despite some missing members of before (where'd all the women go?) Ocean's 13 is good and everything that made the original a surprise smash. The chemistry among the crew remains intact, but now we have a different story to follow, and a better heist to capture on film. Capturing all the merriment is Soderbergh, who once again excels in putting his distinct methods of film-making to good use as he contributes a dosage of style, color and old-school flavor to the movie. The ending leaves the door open for more, and as long as they remain as entertaining as this, why shouldn't we continue the series? Clooney, Damon, and especially Brad Pitt seem to have a lot of fun robbing people and screwing around. Whatever happened to the good-ol' days of classic, one-track storytelling anyway? 13 had nothing surprising. So 13 is just 11 all over again which should have been called 11.3

I was already an Ocean's fan before I bought Ocean's Thirteen, but I must say that the third one definitely rivaled it's first. Not only is Danny Ocean and the rest challenging themselves with a seemingly impossible job, they are bringing in the whole crew from the previous ones! It's like a big reunion of rats, sneaks and con artists! It's awesome and I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys movies about thefts, sneaks or just a fan of Brad Pitt or George Clooney!