Tuesday 3 January 2012

Oceans Twleve

Although Steven Soderbergh didn’t make it very obvious that there was a sequel in the offing when he closed Ocean’s Eleven, it is the sheer method of making the movie that left all options open for the makers. And why just a sequel? Why not sequels would have been a thought always. I for one believe that the contract was signed with the cast and crew for 3 movies irrespective of whether 3 were made or not. It was then just a matter of time to get the right idea in place to maximize what can be generated from a bunch of nearly twenty immensely talented actors. Can anyone confirm this minor conspiracy theory?
Ocean’s Eleven had about 13 very well known faces. Ocean’s Twelve sees the addition of a fantastic face. One of favouritest (if there is a term like that) faces of a lot of people. One who can easily pass off as a South American beauty but is actually Welsh!!! Now how much of a campaign can that be for welsh women!!! We are – for the record – talking about Catherine Zeta Jones, who plays the role of the Interpol officer, Isabel Lahiri. OK now she pulls off being Turkish as well.

We also see the introduction of the charismatic (as if there wasn’t enough of it) and the extremely talented (as if there wasn’t enough of that either) Vincent Cassel. A little bit of French never hurt anyone right. Only makes things more exotic – maybe sultry. Cassel plays the wily François Toulour aka The Night Fox whose only ambition in life is to be known as the best thief ever to have lived. So when his mentor Jaspar LeMarque arguably the best thief to have ever lived doesn’t object to a claim that Daniel Ocean and his team pulled off the biggest heist ever @ the Bellagio, his ego gets the better of him. And he breaks the #1 rule – never rant on a fellow thief.

Ocean’s Twelve takes off pretty much from where Ocean’s Eleven left in terms of all aspects of film making. Soderbergh lends the consistency to the fabric of the movie with his inimitable style and at the same time ensures that he has kept in touch with the times to ensure that the movie looks and feels contemporary. The signature editing and the superb music seem to be blend in beautifully into the final product – the benchmark for which was set in the previous part itself.

Does it live upto the billing of Eleven? Probably falls a tad short but mind you – only a tad. Not terribly short in any manner. A well balanced effort overall which unlike reglar sequels, retains the essence of the first part and adds value in terms of movie making to the 2nd part. It is probably the freshness of the story which falls just a bit short and hence my rating of 7 on 10. Where Eleven was something most people in the audience were watching for the first time as a concept, Twelve didn’t have the novelty. Definitely worth watching despite this gap. Playing on WB TV – Channel 353 on Tata Sky

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1989804313/

Cast                 George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Eddie Jemison, Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Michael Delano, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Robbie Coltrane, Vincent Cassel, Eddie Izzard, Albert Finney

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