Ocean's 8 (3 out of 5 stars).
Ocean's 8 is a spin off from the reboot Ocean's trilogy starring George Clooney. And an all female cast of a spin off. I was not a huge fan of the Ocean's trilogy. The first one was eh. The second was okay. And the third one was a lot of fun. Now, this spin off does not improve over the original trilogy. It was decent. The cast ensemble was good. The plot brings in Danny (George Clooney) sister who is played by Sandra Bullock. She gets out of prison and plans her next heist of stealing diamond necklace that is worth 150 million dollars. I did feel like this film was lacking in fun and stand out characters.
The plot follows Debbie (Sandra Bullock) who is out of prison. She plans her next heist of stealing a diamond necklace that has not been seen by the public's eye. She needs the help from Lou (Cate Blanchett), Amita (Mindy Kaling), Tammy (Sarah Paulson), Constance (Awkwafina), Nine Ball (Rihanna), and Rose (Helena Bonham Carter). The team will try to use a fashion model Daphne (Anne Hathaway) to sponsor in wearing the diamond necklace at a fashion event.
The original trilogy at least stood out for its quirky fun humor and interesting characters. Ocean's 8 is missing out on that opportunity. We get Debbie Ocean, who cons her way to get what she wants. She cons the hotel receptionist to getting a free room, a fragrance store customer service, ect. Lou is Debbie's partner in crime that will always be by her side and helps to organize this team. Amita is a jeweler expert. Tammy is a suburban mom, who has lots of over stock supplies of home appliances in her garage. Constance is a pick-pocking thief. Nine Ball is a hacker. And Rose is the fashion designer and awkward in person. The cast that plays these characters are great choices. But the script does miss the opportunity in making these characters interesting and lacking in fun humor. We get more fun humor from James Corden's character that shows up in the dead end of the second act playing an insurance investigator.
The concept and plot was okay. It adds nothing new to the serious. Besides Debbie's desire to challenge herself into stealing a high price jewelry that has private security guards a few feet away. And there are a couple of twists, which does not give the surprise factor at all. Plus there are a couple of cameos from the original trilogy. I was really hoping for more that could have made it fun at least.
Gary Ross direction with the film is slightly dull. It does not have the fun energy like the previous films. It is a heist movie that seems like it is bored with its script.
Overall, Ocean's 8 is a fair heist film. The cast ensemble was great and the plot was decent and entertaining. It just was lacking the energetic direction and has uninteresting characters which can be a little boring at times.
