I wrote about my love for the George Clooney-led Ocean’s trilogy last week. Given this, I was cautiously excited for the release of Ocean’s 8, the all-female spin-off. Unfortunately There are a lot of problems with Ocean’s 8, which is too bad because it could have been really good. I mean just look at the cast list. The names alone should have made this a middle of the road, average movie at the absolute worst. But as I said it had its problems. Let’s see where it went wrong. But don’t worry, it won’t be all negative. I’ll get into some positives as well.
***This review will be spoiler-free.***
One of my main concerns going into the movie was how it would handle being in the Clooney “Oceanverse”, as it were. Would they shoehorn in cameos and other references from the first three films? Would it try to be more or less a straight reboot of Ocean’s 11, rather than trying to find its own identity?
To the first point, I’m glad to say the cameos and references weren’t over the top, something I was glad to see. Having an overabundance of cameos likely would have put a stranglehold on 8, making it much harder for it to forge its own path and identity. But the cameos they did use did nothing for the movie. Reuben shows up first, meeting briefly with Debbie Ocean (Danny’s sister, played by Bullock). Sure it was fun to see his character pop up again, but was it really needed? Sadly, no. As for the other cameo(s), I won’t say who does or does not make an appearance, as spilling that information would spoil certain parts of the movie that should remain unspoiled. Don’t check full cast lists, or the Wikipedia page, if you want any other cameos to remain unknown to you.
As for trying to find its own identity or just copying Ocean’s 11, it couldn’t seem to make up its mind. There were scenes that definitely felt very similar to the original trilogy. Some of the score was very reminiscent of the trilogy’s music. There were some nods to Steven Soderbergh’s directorial style as well, with some of the shots, angles, and cut-aways and zooms. But director Gary Ross never committed one way or the other. It’s almost like he was trying to copy Soderbergh’s style without fully understanding what that meant.
One of my favorite aspects of the Clooney Ocean movies was the chemistry between all the crew members, particularly between Danny (Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt). When you have large ensemble casts, chemistry becomes that much more important. Ocean’s 8 just didn’t have that. There were some great individual performances (I’ll get into those later) but the characters just didn’t mesh as a group. In 11, the entire crew seemed like they were all truly friends. You don’t get that same feeling here. There are some moments here and there, and you see it some with Bullock and Cate Blanchett’s Lou. But overall it felt like a bunch of individuals who got slapped together for a job (which actually is pretty much exactly what happened). It made for some clunky storytelling which threw off the rhythm and pacing of the film.
One of the worst parts of the movie was the motivation for the heist. It was beyond dumb. In Ocean’s 11, the trick was to get the audience to root for the guys who were committing a crime. Yes, what they were doing was illegal, but the argument could be made that the crime was being committed against a worse person. Ocean’s 8 didn’t achieve that. I don’t want to spoil it, but I never felt fully on their side like I did with the other three. It makes it harder to enjoy a movie when the protagonists are supposed to be the “good guys” but the movie doesn’t do enough to convince the audience that’s the case.
Another big drawback was the twist. I of course won’t say what it was, but it came completely out of left field. Looking back, yes there were (very) minor hints dropped here and there. But there was no foundation for it. The movie is humming along and all of a sudden it’s, “Oh, we almost forgot. This is also a part of the movie.” This alone dropped it down a few points for me.
Let’s talk for a bit about Mindy Kaling. She’s awesome. One of the funniest actresses working today. But she was extremely underutilized here. This could (should) have been a great role for her. Her introduction is great, but then she’s pretty much shuffled off to the side for most of the movie. That was really disappointing.
Lastly, Kim Kardashian, Kendall and Kylie Jenner make cameo appearances. This is most certainly nitpicking, and their presence did make sense given the Met Gala setting; but still having these three show up didn’t help.
To not be all negative, there were some good parts. As I mentioned before, there were some great individual performances, starting with Sandra Bullock. She was fantastic. She owned the role which resulted in her being more than believable enough as a member of the Ocean family. Sarah Paulson was also very enjoyable. I think I had only seen her previously in her small role in The Post, so I wasn’t sure what to expect out of her. But she was great. James Corden, in one of the very few major male roles, was probably the best part of the movie after Bullock.
Anne Hathaway was great as well. She in particular embodied one of the best traits of the movie: how much fun the actresses were clearly having playing these roles. I love when an actor/actress’s joy jumps off the screen at you (think Hugh Jackman in Greatest Showman). Making movies should be fun, watching movies should be fun; and it’s fun when you see those involved also getting in on the fun.
I’ll end with a few final thoughts. As I said before, the cast here is great and there’s certainly a great movie in here somewhere. The story certainly didn’t do the actresses any favors. But for what it’s worth, and to their credit, they were clearly trying to do the best they could with what they were given.
Of course there will be sequel talks. And there’s no reason we can’t have a well-rounded, fun female-led — or all-female — heist movie. But I think a studio might be better served coming up with an original idea rather than going back to the Ocean’s well. That being said, if a sequel does happen, I’ll still line up opening weekend just the same. But I hope they would look to a female director for an Ocean’s 9; or they could try to bring Steven Soderbergh back. That might do the trick.
Bottom line: Ocean’s 8 has a great cast that is wasted on sub-par script where the characters pull off a heist viewers have no reason to care about. If it comes to Netflix or another streaming service, sure, go ahead and give it a watch. I know that’s likely the only way I’ll be rewatching it.
Movie: Ocean’s 8
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Crime, Heist
Rated: PG-13 for language (one F-word), some suggestive content, drug use
My rating: 62/100
