I loved Ocean's Eleven, and while Ocean's Twelve was disappointing and flawed in many places, it wasn't bad either. But Ocean's Thirteen was probably the worst out of the trilogy. The dialogue was still pretty decent, but the plot/story was weaker, lazier, less intelligent, and not as tight as the other plots had been in the previous films. It wasn't as exciting or gripping, and the film started without proper set-up or back story; which, despite previous films, it still needed to make known. The lightning was garish, and there wasn't a single beautiful shot in the movie. Even the good-looking guys (yes, most of the cast...) looked washed-out or sweaty. The acting was still solid, and the cast is, without a doubt, as stellar as they come; at least in name. But the characters were as flat as they've ever been, with the mild exception of Casey Affleck's Virgil whom I rather fell in love with and who was given more screen time than the previous films had allotted him. I wholeheartedly appreciated that. Matt Damon's Linus was delightful comic relief, but again, not even the strong cast could save characters that had been reduced to cheapened, one-dimensional "stereotypes" (I use the word loosely). I'd even go as far as to say they were boring.The lack of female presence was solely felt. Ellen Barkin was obviously only there to give Matt Damon's character a chance at romance, and she was weak, unnecessary, and one-dimensional.My main issue with Thirteen is this: It came across too self- absorbed and self-obsessed with being as slick, smooth, and cool as the first film, that it failed to deliver quality; in terms of both character and plot. I got the impression that the writers were too self-assured of their stellar cast and the cool, smooth intelligence displayed in the other films, that they neglected true quality and substance and were now content with a threadbare plot and lazy character arcs. Does that make sense? It was as if they were so confident of people coming into their casinos, that they'd now forgotten to add money to be won.

Come on, be honest, you wanted Pacino to win didn't you? I mean, Brad Pitt is good when he's not doing the fluff action movie thing. He can act when he really wants to. Matt Damon is the same, when he wants to act he can act and when he wants a paycheck he does a boring action film. George Clooney is cool, he does some mad roles......but, I mean, they are up against Al Pacino. It's hard to hold your own against them man.Other than that it is leagues better than the second film and still not as good as the first.The first had some real heart, the third had some great jokes, but you got the feeling that they were grasping at straws. A heist film with that much going on is hard to pull off more than once.But the effort was here and it was a good job. They did a good fight, they just couldn't pull it off a second time, let alone a third.I'll give you a hint. Don't try to justify it and make them the good guys, they are thieves, so long as they are lovable they don't have to be righteous.

The star-studded cast is back. I don't know the 13 and I didn't bother counting but if you've watched either of the first two then you're familiar with the main players.Ocean's 13 sticks with the same style and a similar storyline. This time they are back in Las Vegas and their motives for this job is different. I liked them being in Vegas instead of France and I liked the job being yet another casino other than a museum.You'll like Ocean's 13 for the same reasons you liked Ocean's 11, or even 12. All-star cast, the creative plot and sticking it to another unlikable guy.

After the disaster of Ocean's 12 there was only one way: up. Therefore, Ocean's 13 inevitably improves although it's not surprising Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones dropped out. The ridiculously likable crew are back, getting revenge on a businessman (Al Pacino) who conned their friend. It relocates the action back to Vegas, where it belongs, and this time they were polite enough to actually include a heist. Concluding the trilogy in better than expected fashion, O13 restores the trilogy to glamorous, slick, stylish glory and still shines brighter than the majority of the lights on the strip. It doesn't measure up the original. Don Cheadle is as jarring as ever and there are some irritating jokes and the heist sometimes feels lost in the comedy. It can be overly confusing and it's sometimes difficult to understand where the plot is going. These various flaws don't stop it from being a solid 4 star crime flick.The characters are still entertaining and likable. This time, Brad Pitt and George Clooney are actually likable and aren't just smug. Matt Damon is still bland though. It's well directed by Steven Soderbergh and has another fine musical score. There's also a sense of finality and it wraps up the trilogy very well. It's not as surreally enjoyable as the first one, but it's humorous, slick and offers plenty of the escapist fun that the first did. It doesn't suffer from the laws of diminishing returns and does the formula of the first one without adding to it but also without copying it and doing a turd on it. This isn't the strongest or bravest second sequel out there but it deserves a lot of respect for being entertaining and learning from the mistakes of the awful Ocean's 12. Nothing memorable or daring, but O13 provides plenty of stylish and sub zero cool heist based fun. At least there's a proper heist set piece.8/10