Ocean's Eight

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Elliot Gould, Richard Armitage, Dakota Fanning, James Corden, Common, Jaime King, Gigi Hadid, Olivia Munn, Serena Williams
Directed by: Gary Ross
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Comedy
2018

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) assembles her own crew to pull off a daring jewelry heist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Review:

Tim: In theory, this was a cool way to keep the Ocean's franchise alive while spinning off the story to new characters. I liked the idea of doing an all-female heist crew. Plus, as much as I'd have preferred to get Ocean's Fourteen, I appreciated the opportunity to see another brilliant, exciting heist, even with new characters instead of the established favorites. And truly, Gary Ross delivers a solid movie. That's important to note- Ocean's Eight is a good film, it's a success. And yet, it's also missing something from the earlier films.

Here's the thing- Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's trilogy was so unbelievably cool. Even when the films hit speed bumps from time to time, the fact remained that everything you watched was so undeniably cool. This was especially true of the first one, but the whole trilogy just dripped style and charisma. The films were entertaining as hell and made you want to be part of that crew. Ocean's Eight doesn't have that same appeal. The film is fun, it has more than a few solid moments, but it's never even close to the same ballpark of coolness. It feels like this film is a step down from that original trilogy. That's unfortunate. Now, if you're going to make a fourth film in the franchise (really, the fifth considering the 1960 original), you are doomed to be compared to it. That might seem unfair, but when you call a heist movie "Ocean's", the comparisons need to take place. And, this movie fails those comparisons. It's not as good as any of Soderbergh's trilogy.

However, as a film standing on its own, Ocean's Eight works more often than it doesn't. The characters are fun. While they seem to borrow too heavy from Danny Ocean's crew (Cate Blanchett is Brad Pitt, etc.), the characters are funny. That's the big appeal of this movie- you get to see a bunch of actresses working together. The interactions are solid. Now, the star appeal felt a bit underwhelming here, especially when you compare it to Danny's crew. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett are top notch. I loved the two of them in the lead roles. They're both excellent actresses and I had so much fun watching them together. They really make the movie. I do wish Blanchett had a bit more to do, but it speaks to her effectiveness. Anne Hathaway was a great addition to the cast. Early on, it feels like she won't be given enough to do, but the story loops back around and it feels like she gets some great scenes. Hathaway was a bright spot in the film. I'm not a big Helena Bonham Carter fan, but she put in a really good performance here. The other cast members were less effective. Sarah Paulson was good, but she felt like a step down from the other cast members. I still enjoyed her, but not quite as much. Rihanna gave a really strong performance for her, but it pales to the rest of the cast. It was an odd casting because her lack of acting talent was really exposed here. Awkwafina was okay, but it felt like we deserved a better actress in this role. Mindy Kaling was fine, too. I liked her casting because she brought humor and diversity to the cast, but I can't say she was truly incredible or anything. James Corden felt like a bit of a disappointing casting. He's solid in the role, but the movie would have been helped with a great actor here. I loved seeing Elliott Gould, but other than just connecting this movie to the previous trilogy, he doesn't have much to do. As a whole, the cast is really good- but Ocean's Eleven had a truly great cast. The cast doesn't actively hurt this movie, but the movie really needed a bit of a stronger cast.

The heist itself is really well done. That's essential for a film like this. The heist needs to feel brilliant and cool, but also somewhat believable. It's a difficult balance to strike and this movie achieves it. It was great fun to see how these women would pull it off. This movie is certainly entertaining and that's helped by the well-plotted heist.

Although I do wish Ocean's Eight was a bit cooler, a bit more memorable, it's still a solid movie. It was entertaining and fun. I'm sure they picked "Eight" so that this could become a trilogy and not overlap with the first one. While there was untapped potential in this film, I wouldn't mind this becoming another trilogy.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen