Small bits on Ocean's Twelve

I'm not in the mood for a proper review of Steven Soderbergh's latest heist flick Ocean's Twelve [PRO-] (plus the critical onslaught it received today on its opening here sort of drained me a bit), but I've cut-and-pasted some comments I posted on Rotten Tomatoes today and yesterday (slightly edited):

I'm a big fan of heist movies, and this is as good as it gets in the year of 2004 - postmodern, metariffic, stylish but not to hide flaws but rather to display its confidence and talent. It's also a forceful flex of the muscles, a message to all the untalented, unfocused, violent and confused "funny action" flicks being done around the clock in Tinseltown, a display of how it can be done - O12 is the jaded Martini drinker, looking on nonplussed as his younger brother is getting thrown out of the casino; and as a sequel it's the logical progression. If Hollywood insists on plowing down millions of thousands of tens of hundreds of dollars into lush, star-riddled vehicles, I prefer the money goes to productions like this. Big, stupid entertainment? Try big, smart entertainment - the best there is. Made by an expert filmmaker.

***

Ocean's Eleven was critically perceived as a clever, good-looking, sly piece of genre filmmaking, but the sequel gets the "what an unnecessary movie" treatment, which automatically voids it of merit and makes it inferior to any predecessor. And while it might in fact be inferior, that's not a very fair attitude to approach it with. The tone of the reviews here was of repulsion at the very idea that Soderbergh, Clooney et al had the nerve (yes!) to cruise around Europe pulling off heists that didn't make much sense, exchanging witty banter and wearing nice suits in the process - and make a movie about it! Those stupid, rich, wasteful Hollywood types. How dare they! Sort of.

Some critics also seem annoyed about the "impossible" twists and the self-serving tone, but personally, I couldn't care less about the heists themselves (in that respect O12 differs from O11, which put a much bigger emphasis on suspense) - it's the settings, the ridiculous plot twists, the never-ending cameos, Zeta-Jones' enormous wardrobe, the jokey acting, the fluid camerawork and the assured editing I get my kicks from. And those are all essential ingredients of the lighthearted caper/heist flick (like How to Steal a Million or Gambit), which is miles away from insanely detailed and grave stuff like Loophole or Adieu l'ami - and really shouldn't be judged on the same premises. While working within the same overall genre, I couldn't think of two films more different than, say, Who's Minding the Mint? and Rififi.