Director: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts

Synopsis: Daniel Ocean recruits one more team member so he can pull off three major European heists in this sequel to Ocean’s 11.

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While this ill-advised sequel displays all the flashy cool touches of its predecessor, the one thing it lacks is a coherent or absorbing storyline. The gang’s all back, looking as cool and sophisticated as before, and they’re joined this time by appropriately slick French actor Vincent Cassel as an art thief who bids fair to put Danny Ocean in the shade. So sure of his status as the world’s greatest jewel thief is this character that he challenges Ocean to a duel – to steal a heavily guarded Coronation egg in Rome. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems, and pulling the strings in the background is the shady master-thief LaMarque.

It’s clear by now that the makers of the film had no interest in basing their story in any recognisable world. In fact, this story harks back to the escapades of Fantomas, a silent French serial in which master thieves were all known to each other, almost part of an unofficial club. We, the audience, are expected not to care about any shortcomings in the plot because we’ll be too busy thrilling over seeing George and Brad and Julia and Matt re-united once more.

The story’s ok, if a little confusing in its execution. There’s a cameo by Bruce Willis being himself which is a little too cute for its own good as it asks us to believe that Julia Roberts is playing a character who, in the pursuit of the egg, must pass herself off as no other than that famous actress… Julia Roberts. Hmmm, how clever – I bet writer George Nolfi had a good old chuckle to himself when he wrote that one.