Moviegoers may feel like they are sponsoring a lavish overseas reunion of Hollywood billionaires when watching Ocean's Twelve - sequel to the 2001 blockbuster Ocean's Eleven.
Directed by award-winning Steven Soderbergh and written by George Nolfi, the film continues the adventures of a band of crooks headed by the ultra-cool Danny Ocean (George Clooney). This time the number of thieves adds up to 12 as Tess (Julia Roberts) - Ocean's wife - joins the gang.
Three years after their spectacular US$160 million heist at a hotel in Las Vegas, Ocean and his band of 10 top-notch thieves, including his right-hand man Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) and the charming Linus (Matt Damon), reunite after being tracked down by the hotel owner Benedict (Andy Garcia).
Benedict demands his money plus interest returned in 14 days, and the gang heads off to Europe in an attempt to pull off another big-paying scam. But, they find themselves facing two tricky oppositions - Rusty's former lover and super-detective (Catherine Zeta-Jones) as well as super-thief Francois Toulour (Vincent Cassel) who challenges Ocean for kicks.
To Soderbergh's credit, he has managed to concoct a glossy film out of a plotless story and silly gags. There are times when Soderbergh's improvisational style works well, especially in the playful scenes in which the crooks exchange banter on issues such as Ocean's age.
But anyone who expects another creative feat from this talented director (Traffic and Erin Brokovich) will be hugely disappointed. Self-referential jokes such as Tess pretending to be Julia Roberts are unoriginal and farcical.