Review of Ocean's Eight (2018) by Wade W — 04 Jan 2019

Ocean's Eight.

(2018).

Plot:

Five years, eight months, 12 days. That's how long Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) has been concocting the greatest heist of her storied career. It will require the best in the field, including her former partner in crime, Lou (Cate Blanchett), and a crew of specialists. Their target: $150 million in diamonds that will adorn the neck of a world-famous actress (Anne Hathaway) at the event of the year, the Met Gala. The plan appears rock-solid, but it needs to be flawless for them to get in and get away - all in plain sight.

Review:

Although this movie is watchable, it's not in the same class as the original, and the crew seem to get away with the heist with ease. With today's technology, this remake was pretty unrealistic and the fact that there isn't an enemy made it all a bit pointless. I also wasn't that impressed with the cast, mainly because Sandra Bullock got most of the screen time, but I did like the chemistry between her and Blanchett. One of the great things about the original was the funky soundtrack, which this movie did attempt but it also wasn't in the same class. The comedic content isn't that great, and I personally think that the roles went to the wrong actors. Blanchett should have played Sandra Bullock's role and Hathaway should have been in the gang from the beginning. Rihana should have played Hathaway's role, as herself, and Bullock should have been in Blanchett's role. That's just my opinion! Anyway, following her release from prison, Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock), the younger sister of Danny Ocean, meets her former partner in crime Lou (Cate Blanchett), to convince her to join a heist that she planned whilst serving her sentence. Debbie and Lou assemble the rest of their team: Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), whose a disgraced fashion designer who is deeply in debt with the IRS, Amita (Mindy Kaling) whose jewellery maker and friend of Debbies who is eager to move out of her mother's house, Nine Ball (Rihanna) whose a computer hacker, Tammy who fences stolen goods out of her family suburban home and Constance (Awkwafina), whose a street hustler and pickpocket. Debbie plans to steal the Toussaint, a $150 million Cartier necklace, from the Met Gala in 3 weeks time. They decide to use the Met Gala co-host, Daphne Kluger, a famous actress known for her long neck, as an unwitting mule who will wear the necklace in the gala. The team manipulates Daphne into choosing Weil as her stylist, and Weil and Amita go to Cartier to convince them to let Daphne wear the Toussaint. They also digitally scan the necklace in order to manufacture a cubic zirconia duplicate. As the gala begins, Daphne consumes soup that Lou spiked, causing her to vomit in the restroom, where Constance takes the necklace. Amita retools the Toussaint into several pieces of jewellery and gives them to Constance to slip to the members of the team. After a few twists and turns towards the end, each member of the team goes there separate ways with there money: Amita goes to Paris with a man she met on Tinder, Weil pays off her debts and opens her own store, Constance buys a spacious loft in the city and becomes a YouTuber, Tammy expands her business in selling stolen goods, Nine Ball opens a pool bar, Daphne becomes a director, Lou goes on a cross-country road trip and Debbie returns to her brother, Danny's grave to raise a toast to him with a Martini in his honour. It's kind of sad to see that they definitely won't be another Ocean's movie, now that Danny is dead because it would have been good to see Clooney, Pitt, Damon etc, as old men, planning and executing the perfect heist. Anyway, I was kind of left thinking "was that it" when it came to the end of this movie because I was expecting some sort of a clever twist. Don't get me wrong, I was surprised to see that Hathaway had joined the crew and that they had stolen much more than we thought but from an entertainment point of view, I would have liked to have seen the heist have more downfalls, which would have made it more realistic. Although the plot and the cast must have looked good on paper, the director failed to make a unique movie, which had the flamboyance and wit of the original but it's still worth a one-watch, just to see these actresses, from completely different worlds, on the big screen together. Average!

Round-Up:

This movie was written and directed by Gary Ross, who also brought you Pleasantville, Seabiscuit, The Hunger Games and Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey. He also produced Big starring Tom Hanks in 1988, Trial and Error and the Tale of Despereaux in 2008. He's certainly had a versatile career to date, which has included some big blockbusters, and with this movie being a success at the box office it did do his filmography any damage. Personally, I think that he should have done much better with this concept, and he seemed to have spent to much time on making the Met Gala look spectacular. Most people praised the performances but didn't like the storyline, which I totally agree with, so it might need some fresh eyes if there is going to be a sequel.

Budget: $30million.

Worldwide Gross: $298million.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller.

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihana, Dakota Fanning, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Griffin Dunne, Gemma Forbes, Elliott Gould and Midori Francis. 4/10.