Film: Ocean’s 8 Starring: Sandra Bullock, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway Director: Gary Ross Review: Maria Agostini Rating: 3 X's out of 5 X's It's been over ten years since the last installment of the Ocean’s trilogy, and after all the hype and anticipation, Ocean’s 8 is finally here. With a cast of some well known, strong, and talented female leads, Ocean’s 8 became one of the next films aimed to show that women can claim the spotlight too.
Ocean’s 8 follows Debbie Ocean, played by Sandra Bullock, who is the sister of the notorious con man, Danny Ocean. After over five years in jail, Debbie has planned one of the biggest heists in history at the famous Met Gala. In order to pull off this stunt off, Debbie will need to enlist the help of fellow con, Lou (Cate Blanchett), the unconventional fashion designer, Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), diamond expert, Amita (Mindy Kaling), skilled hacker, Nine Ball (Rihanna), motherly smuggler, Tammy (Sarah Paulson), and pickpocket, Constance (Awkwafina). Their goal, steal a necklace valued at over 150 million dollars that will be worn by the world-famous actress, Daphne Kluger, played by Anne Hathaway.
The team is unique in many ways, and each member brings their own unique personality that empowers the team. Cate Blanchett is as classy as ever while portraying the edgy con-woman, Lou, that teams up with Debbie Ocean and takes on the role of one of the leaders of the heist. Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, and Awkwafina join in on the action and showed that even a diamond inspector, caring mother, or pickpocket can have a few tricks up their sleeve that will surprise you. But it was Helena Bonham Carter’s quirky portrayal of Rose and Rihanna’s calm collected portrayal of Nine Ball that helped to create a unique range of personalities within the team. Ocean’s 8 has been highly anticipated over the last year for a few reasons, but one reason, in particular, was for the powerful cast of strong leading ladies that would be teaming up together. Debbie says, “men get noticed and women get overlooked”, which can often be the case with women in film, but this cast, though trying to blend in at the Gala, demands the attention of moviegoers and refuses to be overlooked. Each character shows that they can hold their own and that men aren’t needed to save the day, however, with so much power in one film, somehow the women didn’t seem to shine as bright as they could have. The story was interesting and the casting was perfect, but somehow these eight strong actresses seemed to be held back and not giving it their all. For someone performing such a huge heist, Debbie seemed very mellow and nonchalant about what they were trying to pull off for the first half of the film. It wasn’t until the actual heist began that the characters seemed to break out of their shell and get into the action. Even then, something seemed to be missing from the film. There was never any “wow factor” that made you love it, but still nothing that made you hate it. Though there were flat moments, the film was fun and playful at times and had the same witty humor that we have seen in the past Ocean’s movies. The humor, at times, is female oriented and focuses on the world of fashion, motherhood, and girl power, but it is still a humor everyone will get. The story is interesting and fun, but as you watch these women pull off such an extravagant heist, you will find something is missing from the story. What that thing is you may not be sure of, but you will probably leave feeling as if the full potential of the film was never shown. All in all, Ocean’s 8 was a nice film to watch, interesting at times, and had great female leads, but falls short of our expectations. There are many great cameos by other actors and nods to the original Ocean’s films that you will have fun finding. Ocean’s 8 would be a good choice for a relaxing night at the movies with the girls.
See the official trailer here:
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