Ocean’s Thirteen (HD-DVD/DVD Combo Format)
Picture:
B/C+ Sound: B/C+ Extras: C- Film: C-
When Ocean’s Eleven was remade, George
Clooney admitted that the cast was not as cool or as great as the original Rat
Pack who starred, but that they had the better script. He could not say that about the sequels and
although Ocean’s Thirteen is not the
absolute disaster Ocean’s Twelve
was, it is still a tired sequel that shows Jerry Weintraub has long lost his
touch as a producer and even someone as talented as Steven Soderbergh can get
bored with the wrong material.
The
one-joke approach (i.e., look how funny and slick we are(n’t)) that shredded
the first sequel is like the paper towel that cannot stand up against a soaked
Bounty paper towel, reminding one that Rosie herself Nancy Walker made a better
film with The Village People’s disco musical Can’t Stop The Music than this team did with either sequel. They think they’ve upped the heist here, but
instead, just repeated the last sequel with a little less condescending
attitude towards the audience. Everyone
did this mess for the paycheck and it shows.
Even the actors look bored. You
will be too!
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is shockingly too red and problematic
throughout and it is not from mere stylization, but something odd about the
transfer. This extends to the even more
problematic anamorphically enhanced, standard side looking much worse. Neither look like any of the film or video
footage we have seen of the film before and you should be warned that it can be
trying to watch. The Dolby Digital Plus
5.1 on the HD side and standard Dolby 5.1 on the DVD side are also
underwhelming, sounding monophonic and too much towards the front channels. Soderbergh has this tendency for most of his
films, but does it have to sound this flat?
Extras
include the HD exclusive Masters of the
Heist featurette, HD exclusive audio commentary by Soderbergh &
co-writers Brian Koppelman & David Levin, additional scenes, Vegas: An Opulent Illusion piece and Jerry Weintraub Walk and Talk as the
producer tours the casinos where the film takes place. Unfortunately, they are boring as well. The conclusion: this sequel rolls craps!
- Nicholas Sheffo
