Premise - Freshly released from prison Danny Ocean (George Clooney) plans a caper to rip off three of the biggest casino's in Las Vegas. Oceans 11 is about as much fun as I have had watching a film in a long time. From start to finish it's a knock about, slick caper flick that doesn't require too much thought. I've never seen the original flick, but from what I hear it isn't really up to much. I would think that it would have to be something special to be better than the remake. A remake that's better than the original? Not very often that that happens. One of the best things about this film is the ensemble cast. You have big names like George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, but none of them hog the limelight. This truly is a group effort. George Clooney does his usual charming rogue, but he's just so damn good at it you can't help but give in. Brad Pitt (who for the majority of the film is shovelling food into his mouth) loiters around, very subdued, but effortlessly cool in a precession of very nice suits. Julia Roberts re-teams with the director that garnered her an Oscar and whilst she has little screen time her presence is enough to make a suitable object of affection. Matt Damon is putting in the kind of performances of late that are dragging him out of my bad books. He's good here as the fresh, new kid on the block. Andy Garcia is just the right side of bad for you to root against him. It's not just the 'big names' that are worthy of note. Scott Caan and Casey Affleck provide comic relief as constantly bickering brothers. Old school warriors Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner show that they can still mix it with the youngsters. The acrobatics of 'grease man' Shaobo Qin are just amazing and a treat for the eyes. It's Don Cheadle that I liked most though. I was fully prepared to hate his cockney accent, but as bad as it is he pulls it off. Unlike Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins who's accent was just bad, Cheadles is bad enough to work. Indeed the driving force behind the movie is the amazing work from the ensemble cast, but director Steven Soderbergh had no small part in the proceedings. He clearly felt like something a bit lighter after the stunning Traffic. When the results are this good though, who can complain? Again shooting the film himself (like Traffic) the film is a visual treat. Las Vegas has rarely looked better. The action scenes are handled with enough flair to impress even the most jaded Matrix fan. Soderbergh keeps the pace swift and the film has no down points to sneak in a toilet break. He keeps the plot close to his chest, leaking just enough information to keep the audience interested and ensure that any twists are a genuine surprise. Throughout the film David Holmes' excellent music score is the perfect partner to the onscreen goings on. It's a subtle, but brilliant amalgamation of laid back, lounge room music and low tempo, ambient techno. A strange combo, but it works excellently. Some may question the moral stand point of having a gang of crooks as the films good guys. But when the crooks are this charming how can you resist? Very little bad language (if any I can't really recall) makes for a refreshing change in a caper film. All the pieces seem to have fallen perfectly into place to create one hell of a fun movie. A slick, funny, slice of quality popcorn cinema. Highly recommended.

8/10 for Ocean's Eleven. Poster Quote - Were the first 10 this good?