Oceans 13 premiered at the Cannes film Festival amid a media blitzkrieg not seen since Bridget Bardot appeared in a bikini. As doe-eyed press fawned, Pitt, Damon, Clooney, Soderbergh, Barkin, Gould and Garcia launched to an appreciative crowd what was self-deprecatingly dismissed as an 'entertainment'. The third and reportedly final installment in the Oceans franchise, Oceans 13 opens as villainous casino owner Willy Banks (Al Pacino) stiffs Danny Ocean's mentor, Reuben xx. A senior player on the Las Vegas strip, Reuben is taken to the cleaners by the wily Banks who builds a signature hotel on his land. Not one to let old dogs lie, Ocean calls in the team to avenge Reuben, and break Bank's bank.

So far so familiar and, unfortunately for all concerned, Oceans 13 doesn't rise above the moment. It's the movie equivalent of a glossy magazine, pretty to look at, eminently forgettable. Boasting a stellar cast, Soderbergh has them work through the predictable three-act arc while adding nothing new to the formula. Damon has the most fun, seducing Banks' henchwoman with a prosthetic nose while acknowledging that his character has been played entirely differently in each film. This inconsistency may add some interest to the goings-on, yet it also underline's the producer's financial ethos: this is but an entertainment.

Compared to the spicy thrills of Oceans 11, 13 arrives as a bland dish that injects little of lasting excitement into the cinematic menu. While glossy superstars may work the press into a lather, audiences are likely to demand more from their entertainment gods while asking the obvious question - where's a bikini when you need it?

// COLIN FRASER