Ocean's Eight

Ocean's 8, directed by Gary Ross, is a the fourth film in the modern Ocean's heist film franchise, and the first with an all-female cast of criminals. Inspired by her late brother Danny, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) assembles a team of multi-talented women to pull off a jewellery heist at the New York Met Gala.

Debbie is the first character we're introduced to, masterfully manipulating the parole board to secure her release after five years in prison. I'm hooked on Debbie right away; she's a determined, mischievous genius who will take what she wants, laws be damned, and I can't wait for the ruckus she's going to cause on the outside.

Upon her release, Debbie reconnects with her long-time partner-in-crime, Lou (Cate Blanchett). The on-screen chemistry between Debbie and Lou is fantastic. They know each other inside out, with the kind of close friendship where they are starkly honest and tease each other with no love lost. They adore each other, and they've been through some shit together to create this unbreakable bond. Adding to the satisfaction of watching a beautiful on-screen friendship, it's refreshing to watch a film where the main two women are partners rather than rivals.

Once reunited, Debbie and Lou get to work recruiting their perfect heist team; fashion designer Rose (Helena Bonham-Carter), hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna), stay-at-home mum Tammy (Sarah Paulson), con artist Constance (Awkwafina) and jewellery maker Amita (Mindy Kaling). Their target - a $150 million diamond Cartier necklace on loan to celebrity Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway). Although there's little room for character development with an ensemble cast, they're entertaining to watch as a team and play their individual parts well. I'm particularly drawn to Bonham-Carter's portrayal of the eccentric, anxiety-ridden Irish fashion designer slipping into irrelevancy and Hathaway's spot-on, spoilt prima donna. My only reservation is with Rihanna's pot-smoking, Rastafarian character Nine Ball, which feels like it's bordering on racist caricature.

The writers address the heist team being all-female only once, with a satisfying little wink to the audience during the team selection scene. Lou suggests recruiting a man and Debbie delivers what is probably my favourite line in the whole film; "A 'him' gets noticed, a 'her' get's ignored, and for once we want to be ignored." I'm relieved the writers only address the team's gender briefly. I was afraid it could be made a recurring, patronising gimmick (omg, guess what guys... they're LADIES!) - as if they are pulling off a heist despite their gender. But thankfully that's not the case; the characters are bomb-ass, professional cons and their gender doesn't matter.

On top of the already star-studded main cast, Ocean's 8 is packed with cameos. A long list of celebs including Heidi Klum and Kim Kardashian play themselves attending the Met Gala, while others have character cameos. I'm not sold on doing both in the same film. Self-cameos suggest the plot happens in our world, while character cameos seem to contradict that, so Ocean's 8 plays out in an in-between land where Serena Williams exists but James Corden doesn't. But perhaps I'm irked because James Corden doesn't really play a character, he is just himself by a different name, working as an insurance investigator rather than a comedian.

With the heist being set at the Met Gala, it's reasonable to expect a parade of outrageous costumes that the A-list party is famous for in the real world. I was disappointed that the costume styling ended up more in line with Hollywood glam than WTF glam. Maybe the costume budget was drained from hiring such a huge, high-profile cast.

Like any good heist film, the story has a riveting series of twists and turns as the crims try to outwit every obstacle and security measure. It never goes seamlessly to plan, but unfortunately the curve balls in Ocean's 8 were far too easily solved for my liking. Part of the fun of heist films is watching the crooks think on their feet to resolve impossible situations, and the strife was lacking in this one. Call me a sadist, but I want the characters to struggle - it makes the resolution all the more satisfying.

Despite some flaws, Ocean's 8 is a consistently fun watch and a worthy addition to the Ocean's franchise. Go see it for an ideal night out with your heist team, or if you need some inspiration to steal from the cinema's overpriced candy bar.

Regardless of the concept, I've always been intrigued every time a new heist movie makes it to the big screen. The sheer notion of watching a group of people flawlessly pull off something that most people would be crazy to attempt is quite entertaining for many reasons. Ocean's 8 is the latest film of its kind to hit theatres and with the weight of the previous trilogy on its shoulders, there was a high bar to meet. I'm a huge fan of the previous remake of Ocean's Eleven and while neither of the sequels quite match the quality of it, I was hoping Ocean's 8 would steer this franchise in a new direction. While I did enjoy watching this movie, for the most part, I did find myself pretty disappointed by it as a whole. I can't quite recommend this movie as a great film, but if you're a fan of the franchise, here's why you may find some enjoyment in its latest addition.

Ocean's 8 follows the sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney from the previous films) in Debbie Ocean, as she is released from prison and has plotted to rob the Met Gala in New York City. The plan is to steal a necklace that's worth over 150 million dollars, so naturally, she finds a group of women who are very interested in helping out. All having their quirks, they each become a necessity in accomplishing this task. Quite honestly, aside from the first film, this was probably my favorite heist sequence when looking back at the franchise, but if that's all the movie has to offer, then a lot will be left to be desired.

A slow build up is fine if your climax pays off in a big way and for that alone, I found a lot of enjoyment from the movie as a whole. The very meticulous plan makes for an engaging climax and I was sucked into the movie until the very end. That being said, the first act of the movie nearly put me to sleep. This movie takes a very long time to peak your interest. Yes, there are a few interesting characters and some humorous moments will keep you interested, but I didn't find those elements to be enough. I found myself breathing a huge sigh of relief when the actual heist began because the movie didn't seem to have a pulse until that point. Luckily, the dull moments were held together by some likable actresses.

From Sandra Bullock to Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway to Sarah Paulson, and even Rihanna to Mindy Kaling, everyone had their moment to shine here and I was having a blast watching these characters interact with one another. Sadly, those moments are few and far between. These actresses give their all with what they're given, but the script (aside from the plotting of the climax itself) just felt a little generic. A group of women gets together to do a heist and the circumstances are very much the same as the first film in the franchise. Nothing new was brought to the table, which was the one thing I was hoping for with this movie.

Fans of the franchise may have some fun with the movie when it truly kicks into high gear, as I surely did, but the overall movie is frankly average. In particular, I found some of the unique editing choices to be slightly cheesy and I'm not sure if the movie's style worked all that much. The pacing is off in many places and it seems as though music is used throughout the first act to liven up a scene and prevent it from being boring. For all of these reasons and more, I can't quite recommend this movie to many viewers, but if you enjoy watching a good heist, that portion of this film is worth the price of admission in my opinion. While it's not something you have to rush out and see at the cinema, Ocean's 8 is worth renting.

There were a few laughs and maybe one twist, but otherwise there just wasn't anything special about this script. The main thing that was special was having that many fabulous actresses in one film.

It's not funny, the characters aren't charming, and worst of all for a thriller - there's no suspense. Even the sound tracking lacked punch. The characters also lack believability - they don't convince anyone they are criminals, hackers, grifters or anything of the sort. I can't really think of anything good to say about this film - it'll genuinely put you to sleep.

Fun moments in this movie, but overall things happen without much of a reason for us to care.

It's a fine movie. Just fine.