Movie Review: Ocean’s 8 (2018)

I have actually never seen any of the other Ocean’s movies. I know, I know. They’ve always been on my list, but I just never got around to them. So, now that I’ve seen this and let me say up front, I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! I think they’ve been bumped up a bit. So with that said, I don’t have any frame of reference nor can I compare this to the others.

Summary: Debbie Ocean gathers an all-female crew to attempt an impossible heist at New York City’s yearly Met Gala.

Pros:

Cast and Characters. It’s actually kind of funny how I went with two my best friends and we were sitting there assigning who would be who from our friend group in the movie. It was a mutual agreement that I was Debbie Ocean but don’t worry, nothing’s safe. I mean, everything’s safe. There are a lot of characters in the film, but I’m only going to touch on the main women of the film.

• Sandra Bullock as Debbie Ocean. She starts out the film getting released from jail on parole, she lets us know in the beginning what she plans on doing when she’s released. She is Danny Ocean’s estranged sister and a professional thief as it runs in the family. She is a planner, she is particular, quick on her feet, and a natural leader. I mean, what she does when she gets out of jail was amazing. AMAZING. She gets the plan started, and she is so in control it’s kind of inspiring lol. She recruits the others and has the ability to get them to believe in her plan, and to get them to follow her when they really could have said no. Nothing bothers her, she is so under control, that even when things don’t seem to go as planned, she either has planned for that, or she regroups so it can go according to plan. Sandra Bullock was great, she’s always great, LOOKS great. She was so suave in the role, like a natural and she had such great chemistry with EVERYONE ON SCREEN!!

• Cate Blanchett as Lou. She is Debbie’s best friend and partner in crime, she is the first person that Debbie goes to once she’s out of jail and it’s clear that they’ve been friends for a long time and Lou trusts Debbie. There are maybe two times when she doubts the plan, but she always comes back around because of Debbie’s unwavering confidence. She is literally the right hand, and while she’s not like super hands on with the main plot when we actually get to the Met Gala, it’s clear that the job she has, no one else but her could do it. Cate Blanchett is always great. She had great friendship chemistry with Sandra Bullock, they worked so well together and just the choices she made for the character, with how COOL she was, from how she walked, to how she sat, or reacted to her friend’s ideas. If I saw her walking down the street, I would go “Wow, she’s so cool”.

• Anne Hathaway as Daphne Kluger. She is a celebrity, I’m assuming either an actress or a model, but someone important as everyone knows her and she’s the face for a lot of things. She partly the target of the heist and her character is just a mean, selfish and that “typical celebrity” and I think Anne Hathaway just has so much fun in this role because she gets to be so dramatic. A good amount of humor comes from her as she’s just ridiculous but so much fun to watch. I don’t care what anyone says, I love Anne Hathaway.

• Mindy Kaling as Amita. She is a jewelry maker, who is single and still living with her mother and working in her mother’s employ. She is ready to be out on her own, and she takes the opportunity to get from under her mother’s thumb. Now, I do think she knew Debbie previously, I don’t think we learn how exactly, but they know each other which helps when it came to her trusting Debbie. I think she really gets to do some fun stuff when she’s with Helena Bonham Carter looking at the necklace.

• Sarah Paulson as Tammy. Poor thing, she is a suburban mom with I think three children, who are just some evil little things. One was just kicking a ball inside, the other whining about being hungry (but like… I WANT IT NOW type thing) and the youngest who wasn’t so evil. But she is bored in her life and at first refuses but considering what she has in her garage (lol), she gets involved and she actually has a pretty large role in the heist. A lot of their intel banked on her and she played her role really well. Sarah Paulson is also always a win and she was great. She has this innocent demeanor about her in the film, no matter what she was doing, I would always trust her face.

• Awkwafina as Constance. Lou finds her working some people on the streets of New York and she gets involved after they tell her plan. She is a thief/pickpocket, sleight of hand in ways and she is pretty funny. She has a pretty big job in the heist, even though it’s probably the quickest. I only saw her in Neighbor’s 2: Sorority Risingand she was okay then, but I very much enjoyed her in this. She was a joy to watch, she was energetic, funny and I couldn’t help but watch what she would do in a scene with the others because she was always reacting.

• Rihanna as Nine Ball. She is a technical genius and her real name is a secret. To be fairly honest, she was pretty much Rihanna which is probably why I enjoyed her so much because Rihanna is fun. She is a master hacker and is pretty much the best at all computers and she show her prowess so much throughout the film. She has a great scene when she is researching about this guy on Facebook, that entire scene was hilarious and pretty much one of my friend’s in a nutshell lol, especially if she was a master hacker lol.

• Helena Bonham Carter as Rose Weil. She is a fashion designer and one of the first ones they recruit for their heist. She is awkward, and her designs have been a bit laughable for most people in recent years, but as she is designing Daphne’s dress for the gala, everyone is curious. She is a bit awkward lol, but she gets the job done and she creates a beautiful look for Daphne, I mean really, it’s beautiful. Helena Bonham Carter was great in the role, I can’t even think of someone who I would have chosen instead. She plays kooky very well.

The Fashion. Sarah Edwards does the costume design in the film, and I looked her up to see what else she might have done and it’s not really that impressive but THIS MOVIE RIGHT HERE! Literally everyone’s outfits were amazing. All of Sandra Bullock’s outfits I wanted. Cate Blanchett looked FANTASTIC and then everyone in their Met Gala outfits at the end, everyone looked so beautiful. I just can’t. If you think this movie is dumb, that’s fine, but it has to be acknowledged that the fashion was absolutely amazing. I love watching movies like this, where the people look great doing what they do. Everyone had their own style, it fit their characters and was amazing.

The Team. I liked that even if the women came together to commit a crime, they trusted each other. There were no moments of cattiness. When Debbie first met Nine Ball and Constance, she was skeptical, I mean they are the youngest of the group, but after her initial wariness about them, they became a team. There was trust, there was humor and teasing but nothing that made me think they didn’t like each other. I’m interested to see if they will keep the same group in the next one. They should so we can see them become more of a friendship.

It’s Hilarious. It’s very clever, witty and funny. It’s not always the dialogue, sometimes it’s just a character making an expression in a scene, them reacting which is great. A lot of the dialogue is funny, but it also can be attributed to the actor’s comedic timing. Of course, James Corden shows up in the last act of the movie and he’s a joy to watch, Rihanna was actually really great as well.

Looks Beautiful. The direction and the cinematography were both very good in the film. There were some really cool transitions throughout the film and it has a very smooth and crisp look. If anything, this film knows how to give you a movie that looks good, with characters who also look good.

Cons:

The Friendship. So, while I think they worked well together and didn’t become catty towards each other, I don’t think the movie ever really allows them to really be together. Yes, they become a team and yes, they work well together, but we never really see them become friends other than the clear friendship between Debbie and Lou. Even Tammy who they seemed to know, didn’t really get to feel like friends with Debbie and Lou. I hope, if there are more films, that they allow the women to really become friends.

The Script. Even though I haven’t seen the others, I do think this script is pretty weak. I mean, the biggest praise is probably the characters and enjoying watching them plan the heist but the story itself is weak, and lacking and I’m sure that there are moments where people will check out because it’s not that engaging outside of the whole heist aspect. They try to make that the most important but with the other stuff around it, it’s kind of… meh. Ya know?

The Last Act. It’s always more fun to see the set up and the heist than after the heist. I do have to say that the last act is probably the weakest in the film. As soon as the heist is over, it does slow down quite a bit and kind of feels like a bit of a different film, even though it’s still enjoyable to watch.

Overall, I really liked Ocean’s 8. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely watch it again. All of the main women are likable, and I think people can see themselves in a character, or what role they would play if they were part of a team of criminals lol. I think they all work well together and that they become a great team who at least trust each other enough to get the job done. The movie also looks great, the transitions are cool and the film itself has a very smooth and clean look to it. It’s a really funny movie as well, all of the characters have moments when they get to be hilarious, some more than others, but I don’t think there isn’t a time where the humor doesn’t land. The fashion is also amazing, literally all of the clothes in this movie, gah so jealous of everything. The outfit that Debbie wears at the end of the film, those PANTS *swoons* so amazing. It’s a fun movie and harmless. My only real negatives are that while I think the actresses had great chemistry together, they didn’t really get the chance to become friends. I believe they became a team but not friends, since they didn’t really get a chance to just be together. I know they were planning a heist, but it’s always great to see the team become friends. I also think the last act is the weakest in that it feels weird compared to the rest of the movie, I’m glad that some of what happened happened as it’s realistic, but it just slowed the movie down. BUT if you’re looking for a fun, polished, fashionable movie, then definitely check out Ocean’s 8. 

Rating: 3.7 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen Ocean’s 8? What did you think of it? Let me know your thoughts down below!

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