Ocean's Thirteen

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

Frank and company never thought of doing a sequel. In the original “Ocean’s Eleven”, Frank Sinatra and his “Rat Pack” were just doing films for fun, as a way to bring the gang together for their fans. When director Steven Soderbergh joined George Clooney and Brad Pitt to make their remake in 2001, it had that same feel, of a film done by friends, not taking itself too seriously. That light-hearted tone helped make the 2001 version a huge success, resulting in two sequels: 2004’s “Ocean’s Twelve” and the recently released “Ocean’s Thirteen”.

I thought that “Ocean’s Twelve” was a bit of a mess, quite honestly. The numerous twists and the irreverent banter between characters sometimes made me feel like the filmmakers were trying to be too smart or too cool for their audience. Perhaps taking the characters out of Las Vegas and putting them in Europe affected the film’s dynamic, but that film was, in hindsight, a disappointment. Still, I was willing to give Soderbergh, Clooney, Pitt, and their gang another shot with this third installment.

Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) invests money in a new Las Vegas casino. Despite warnings from his friends, he still decides to trust Willie Bank (Al Pacino), a notorious developer who always stabs his partners in the back. Reuben is no different, and he suffers a heart attack. Danny Ocean (Clooney) and company decide that they must get justice for Reuben by any means necessary, even if that means bringing down Willy’s new casino, “The Bank” by rendering it useless. Each member of this motley crew plays their part to perfection, even as they join forces with old enemy Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia) for added cash. What follows harkens back to the coolness of the first “Ocean” without the over-convoluted explanations of the second film.

Some might say that “Thirteen” suffers from not having both Tess Ocean (Julia Roberts( and Isabel Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in it, instead being essentially replaced by Abigail Sponder (Ellen Barkin). While that both Tess and Isabel were referred to by Danny and Rusty (Pitt), they’re never seen, and Barkin comes across as a poor substitute. Still, whereas the first film revolved around Danny, the second had Rusty at its center, this one focused on Linus (Matt Damon). It seems to follow the seniority of the three actors playing the characters.

With a return to Las Vegas, the film returns to the bright lights and gambling background of “Eleven”. The twists we’ve come to expect are still there of course, as well as the montages that Soderbergh uses to heighten viewer anxiety and increase the drama. Compared to “Twelve” however, this latest chapter has less of the melodrama that revolved around Zeta-Jones’ character, and focused on a simple tale of revenge and oneupsmanship. That’s what makes it work.

The ensemble cast is pretty much in full force this time around too. The Amazing Yen (Shaobo Qin) gets to act a bit more, Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) isn’t just languishing in some prison, while the Malloy Brothers (Scott Caan and Casey Affleck) are back at their bickering best. It’s still fun to see Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) conning his way through the casino, as well as watching both Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) and Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) do their thing. With Reuben as their rallying point, Danny’s crew delivers revenge in a classy, witty package that will make you wish you were in Vegas playing the tables with them.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

It seems that Marvel truly has hit its stride as far as making comics-based movies. Whereas there may be severe disasters like “Daredevil” or “Hulk” or “Ghost Rider”, the successes that were the “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” trilogies prove that when Marvel does comics right, they do it very well. Which leads us to “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”. I must admit that I was somewhat disappointed after the first “Fantastic Four” movie. Perhaps I was expecting too much, or perhaps I just expected Dr. Doom to be more of a bad ass. Still, that movie was underwhelming.

I was thus pretty surprised to learn that a sequel was being made. Happily, director Tim story and his writers used one of the most popular storylines in comics: the arrival of the Silver Surfer and Galactus. In the 1960s, this story arc marked a milestone in comics as never before had heroes dealt with a character who could easily be an analogue for god. Because that is essentially what Galactus was: an all-powerful being who is far beyond our understanding and who, on a whim, could wipe out all existence on the planet. The Surfer was a mere harbinger of doom, someone who prepared the way before the big, bad Galactus made his entrance. Which brings us to the movie in question.

There is no denying that I had low expectations for this film, particularly after the first one. I agree that all four heroes were cast pretty well (even though Jessica Alba isn’t blue-eyed or blonde, the producers just needed a hot girl who could reel in the male crowd). Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), Sue Storm (Alba), The Thing (Michael Chiklis), and Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) all returned as the Fantastic Four, more comfortable in their roles as New York’s heroes. So comfortable in fact that Reed and Sue finally decide to get married.

This being a big-budget action film, of course things don’t go as planned. When a silver alien starts popping up in the atmosphere causing all kinds of ecological damage, the FF are brought in to intercept and stop him. Things get more dicey when the team’s old enemy, Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon) resurfaces, showing no ill effects from his last defeat at their hands. Will Doom help the Fantastic Four stop the Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne)? Why is the “Sentinel of the Spaceways” here in the first place? Will Reed and Sue ever get married?

I actually liked this film better than I did the first FF movie. I’ll admit that seeing the Surfer went a long ways into my enjoyment of it, but it also helped that the actors now seemed so much more relaxed in their roles. In the first, Evans was the guy who everyone clearly saw was into his character. Here, Gruffudd, Chiklis, Alba, and even McMahon have settled in. Doom was actually malevolent this time around, not just some freak in a big green hood. The pace was faster, the action louder, and the cheesy dialogue was kept to a bare minimum.

Effects-wise, I’m more than content with the way Doug Jones was motion captured for the Surfer, as well as the scenes between the Surfer and any or all of the Four. SPOILER ALERT: The one drawback in my view was the fact that Galactus was merely shown in shadow and silhouette, never in his full purple and blue glory. Then again, it might be difficult to show Galactus in a live action environment without eliciting laughter from the audience.

This isn’t the best of the superhero movie genre, but it is also clearly far from being the worst. I would even go to say that it is above average and was pretty good. For a film that clocks in at a little over an hour and a half, the action and story were packed tight enough that I can’t really remember any big lulls to draw my attention away from the screen. Now that the Fantastic Four have proven to be box office gold twice over, I’m waiting to see what Marvel and the crew they’ve assembled will do for an encore.