Review of Ocean's Eight (2018) by Jean T — 19 Jun 2018

Fun, frivolous and forgettable - this does a perfectly acceptable job of being a pretty distraction for 1h50m in the company of 8 wonderful ladies on-screen who certainly have star presence, particularly Sandra Bullock and Anna Hathaway, in a film that doesn't exactly tax their acting, or even comedic, abilities.

The script and direction from Gary Ross is slick, fast paced (though obviously no Soderbergh) but also so superficial, reality is not much of a factor in consideration here, and there is almost no point scrutinizing the plot where there are as much fudging and glossing over its logistics and logic as there is make up on their gorgeous and eternally youthful faces.

Bullock plays Debbie, sister of George Clooney's Danny from the Ocean's reboots in 00's, and the leader of a heist that turns out so effortless, there is hardly any tension whatsoever left in the film.

Wisely keeping unnecessary cameos in check, it is able to establish its own identity, at least for now - even though this is very much a straight female remake of Ocean's 11, and the audience gets exactly what they came for: a fairly enjoyable but undemanding romp with the novelty factor of seeing these familiar female faces working together for the first time, but since the studio obviously has its eyes on further instalments (by starting at 8, we already have the next 2 films titled), they might have to do a lot more than simply coasting on the charms of its stars next time.