Review of Ocean's Eight (2018) by Teddy F — 20 Jul 2018

Ocean's 8 is a finely crafted heist film but plays it too safe and its fun factor is hurt because of it. The whole cast are giving professional performances, it's nice to see Sandra Bullock on the big screen again for the first time in a while, Anne Hathaway still looks great and rocks once again, and Awkwafina supplies the movie with some humorous moments. The film looks sharp and plays out smoothly like a heist film should, the pacing is consistent and the plot flows well all together.

However, the film plays out too smoothly; nothing goes wrong. I never felt like the crew was in any trouble of being caught for stealing the jewels and part of the fun in these films comes from the robbers having to think on the fly in order to evade the police and stay out of jail. The film could've significantly benefitted from putting some more pressure on its characters and raising the stakes. Another problem with the film is its characters are too underdeveloped for you to care about them. The only character we learn much of anything about is Bullock's Debbie Ocean and even she feels like a bit of an unknown by the end of the film. With the addition of James Corden's underuse and the questionable decision to make Danny Ocean deceased (which I don't buy for a minute but nothing in the film suggests otherwise), I can't help but feel underwhelmed.

Ocean's 8 is easy to sit back and watch, but don't look for it to match in quality with the original. If you are considering seeing this movie before it falls out of theaters, I suggest you don't let it con you out of your ticket money and spend it elsewhere.