In 2001, Ocean's Eleven was released. The movie was a remake and went on to become very popular. Three years later, the sequel Ocean's Twelve was released. That movie wasn’t as good as the first one, though I did still enjoy it overall. Since I had liked the first two movies, I have been looking forward to seeing Ocean's Thirteen.
Since this is the third movie to deal with the same main characters, some of what I mention when discussing Ocean's Thirteen could be spoilers for the first two movies. Certain things would make more sense and the characters would be more developed if the first two movies were watched first.
Reuben Tishkoff invested in the new hotel and casino that Willie Bank was opening in Las Vegas. Willie doubled crossed Reuben, who then ended up in the hospital. Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan got the group together to get revenge. They decided to mess up the opening night, rigging things so that the casino lost big. They also planned to prevent Willie from winning a prestigious award for the hotel that he’d won for all of his other hotels. Danny and Rusty ended up involving Terry Benedict, who had his own reasons for wanting Willie’s hotel to fail.
The plot for Ocean’s Thirteen was separate from the plots of the first two movies. Neither of those movies left anything that needed to be addressed or tied up in this movie. There was still a connection to the first movies, mainly from the characters returning to pull off new heists of some kind. There were elements used again that had been included in the previous movies. Most of those elements were from the first movie. Things were tweaked or changed around a little, but there was a lot of similarity to the first movie. That didn’t bother me because things worked well for this movie, which allowed it to recapture the fun of the first movie. People wanting to see a completely new and original movie would probably be disappointed with this one.
All but a few short scenes of the movie took place somewhere in Las Vegas. I liked that the movie returned to Las Vegas after heading to Europe for the second movie. The characters just seemed more at home there. Several exterior shots that included well-known casinos and hotels were used throughout the movie. Many scenes took place somewhere inside Willie’s new hotel which had a very high class look. The design of the building itself did look a little odd to me, though it did look like something that would be built in Las Vegas.
There was a lot going on throughout Ocean’s Thirteen without making things confusing. I don’t think the plot was as complicated as the plot of the second movie. The main focus of the movie was the fact that the group decided to go after Willie for what had happened to Reuben. The initial decision was shown and then the movie skipped over six months and the rest took place just before the grand opening of the hotel. There was a scene that had Danny and Rusty talking to Roman Nagel, an associate that had helped them in the past. They explained the planning that had been going on through the use of a few short flashbacks. The rest of the movie followed the last of the planning and implementation of the plan. It wasn’t clear right away exactly how certain things would work out, so that helped to keep things interesting.
The first two movies, especially the first, made me laugh several times even though I don’t consider either of those movies to be a comedy. I don’t think of Ocean’s Thirteen as a comedy either, but it also made me laugh several times. Danny and Rusty said and did many things that made me laugh. A few times it was just a look on one of their faces that did it. A few of the men used disguises that I thought were humorous looking even though they did look believable. The way that Virgil and Turk would bicker made me laugh as well.
The core group of eleven who has been in all three movies had developed a strong bond and friendship. Some of them had known each other for years and others just joined the group during the events of the first movie. The bond they shared and their desire to get revenge was the driving force behind the job they were planning. They didn’t hesitate to get revenge for what had happened to Reuben. It was believable that the men had such a strong friendship even though they have only been shown working together on two jobs before this movie.
All three of these movies have had large casts because of so many characters being involved. Unfortunately because of that, some characters ended up with very little to do. I think it was balanced out a bit more in Ocean’s Thirteen than it had been in Ocean’s Twelve even though some characters, like Frank, Reuben and Saul, still didn’t have as much to do. Tess and Isabel were missing completely, which did disappoint me even though they really wouldn’t have had much to do if they had been around. They were mentioned once by name at the beginning of the movie and that was really it. Danny and Rusty said things in a couple of scenes that seemed to be about one of the women without getting specific or using a name.
Danny and Rusty were in charge of the planning and coordinating everything for their plan. The two men had been friends for a long time and had a very believable friendship. Danny and Rusty were probably in more scenes than the other characters and have been developed the most over the course of all three movies. George Clooney and Brad Pitt were wonderful in the parts. They really seemed like they had been friends for years.
Linus had been pulling mostly small cons before he first met Danny. Linus had more experience, but he was still trying to do things without his father’s help or input. Linus did get a bit more responsibility and have a bigger part to play for the heist this time around. Matt Damon was really good in the part. Basher had to spend a lot of his time dealing with a very specific aspect of the job. It seemed like Don Cheadle did have more to do in this movie than he did in the previous one. Livingston, Frank, Yen, and Saul all had important parts to play even though they weren’t in as much of the movie.
The Malloy brothers spent a lot of their time bickering between themselves like they did in the past. Virgil, and eventually Turk, had something very important to do. Reuben was recovering from what had happened and was shown in bed for most of his scenes. I did still like Elliot Gould even though he didn’t have as much to do. Terry Benedict was brought into the plan for a specific reason. He agreed to help with certain conditions, one which did make things harder for the group. Terry was still the same ruthless business man he had been in the past. Andy Garcia was really good in the part. He had a few more scenes than he had in the last movie even though he still didn’t do much. Eddie Izzard was back in a few scenes as Roman Nagel, a man that helped them with a specific aspect of the job in the second movie. Another character, who I don’t want to mention by name because I feel that would be a spoiler, also turned up in a few short scenes.
In addition to all of the returning characters, there were also a few new characters introduced in Ocean’s Thirteen. The most important of the new characters was Willie Bank. He was a ruthless business owner who would do anything to get things to work out in his favor. He owned four other hotels that had won a very prestigious award and was very confident that he would win another for the new hotel. Al Pacino was perfect in the part. Abigail Sponder was Willie’s assistant who handled a lot of details for him. She was very dedicated to her job. Ellen Barkin was good in the part. David Paymer was in a few scenes as someone only identified as The V.U.P who was more important than he seemed at first. There was a short cameo by Oprah that ended up working well.
Main Cast
Casey Affleck - Virgil Malloy Ellen Barkin - Abigail Sponder Scott Caan - Turk Malloy Don Cheadle - Basher Tarr George Clooney - Danny Ocean Matt Damon - Linus Caldwell Andy Garcia - Terry Benedict Elliot Gould - Reuben Tishkoff Eddie Izzard - Roman Nagel Eddie Jemison - Livingston Dell Bernie Mac - Frank Catton Al Pacino - Willie Bank David Paymer - The V.U.P. Brad Pitt - Rusty Ryan Shaobo Qin - Yen Carl Reiner - Saul Bloom
Steven Soderbergh - Director
Ocean’s Thirteen was a very fun, entertaining movie that I really enjoyed. It was better than the second movie, so people that were disappointed by that one may enjoy this one. Fans of the cast may also like the movie. It is worth seeing at least once.
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