“Ocean’s 11′ was one of my favorite films because of it complex yet easy to follow storyline and the way the cast handled themselves to bring some simple movie fun to the screen. “Ocean’s 12” was not quite a waste of film, but all it added up to was money for the movie studio and 2 hours of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, etc. to show off how fabulous their lives are.

They made a movie that didn’t really need to be made but was made just so the stars could hang out in Europe and make even more money than I will ever have (even the Italian mansion used in the movie belonged to Clooney, it almost bordered on being an episode of MTV Cribs).

So in response to the audience dislike and the fact the studio wanted to drain more money from the franchise, we get what the cast called the ‘sequel that should have been.”

Fortunately, director Steven Soderbergh and the cast heard the criticism and made changes that needed to be made.

The film takes place where it all began in Las Vegas. The gang reunites when one of the own, Reuben, the hotel mogul who helped and financed their heists played by mogul, suffers a heart attack that leaves him catatonic and unresponsive (a cliched movie disease but just run with it). He is put into this predicament when he gets double-crossed out of his share of huge mega hotel/casino by infamous hotel owner Willie Banks played by Al Pacino.

So the whole gang take a break from their old lives and their relationships (the female leads, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones have been left out of the story). With help of Ocean nemesis Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) and computer ally from the last movie Roman Nagel (Eddie Izzard), they plan to rig every game in Bank’s casino so he loses more money than he can pay off and loses his hotel.

The film brings back a lot of the enjoyment that was lost in the second movie, we don’t get any deep character backgrounds so the rest of the movie is spent watching the gang enjoy themselves planning and carrying out the big heist and going through so many obstacles to get justice for their friend. The humor is on fire and constantly coming at the viewer to keep them entertained. The actors bring their A-game for the roles and make the viewer suspend their disbelief for two hours.

Despite the humor, the film does suffer in areas, It still relies on some plot points from the last movie and the use of these storylines can leave some viewers confused wondering who these other characters and why they are important. There are too many extra plot points that clog the movie and hinder its progress.

And while Pacino plays a great ruthless villain and actresses Ellen Barkin works well as Pacino’s second-in-command, but both of these roles needed to be fleshed out more. All in all, it has its shortcomings but it still is great summer escapism that we’ve come to expect.