In 1960, Warner Bros. released Ocean’s 11, a heist film set in Las Vegas that was directed by two-time Oscar-winning director Lewis Milestone. The film was notable for featuring a star-studded cast that was headlined by the five men who made up one of the entertainment industry’s most notable ‘groups’, the Rat Pack; Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. And while the film itself wasn’t exactly a big hit with critics, it did do solidly at the box-office and is still considered as one of the group’s most iconic projects. Four decades later, the film was remade by auteur director Steven Soderbergh; like the original, it also featured a star-studded ensemble cast, including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts, just to name a few. Upon its release in 2001, the film was a massive commercial hit that was followed by two sequels, Ocean’s Twelve in 2004 and Ocean’s Thirteen in 2007. All three films were commercially successful though critical reception towards them was varied (i.e. many consider Ocean’s Twelve to be the worst installment of the trilogy). One thing for certain, though, was that following the passing of Bernie Mac (who played con-man Frank Catton) in 2008, both Soderbergh and Clooney made it clear that there would not be a fourth Ocean’s film with the original cast. So instead, it was decided about a decade later to take the series in a different direction; thus, here we are now with Ocean’s 8, a female-led spin-off that, true to the franchise’s roots, features an all-star cast headlined by the likes of Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway… and again, that’s just to name a few. This time around, veteran writer/director Gary Ross is behind the camera for this spin-off, though Soderbergh is still involved as a producer. And as crazy as it might seem, Ross somehow manages to surpass several of the highs from Soderbergh’s trilogy even though his film does tend to abide by quite a few of the franchise’s usual trappings.
Following in the footsteps of her late brother Danny, professional thief Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) is released on parole after spending the last five years (and eight months) in prison. As soon as she gets out, she reunites with her best friend and partner-in-crime Lou (Cate Blanchett) with her next planned heist already in the works. Said heist revolves around one of the most famous events in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Met Gala, which several of the most famous people in the world attend. However, instead of just robbing the Gala itself, Debbie plans on stealing a valuable necklace known as the Touissant that is owned by the famous jeweler Cartier and is valued at around $150 million. To accomplish this heist, Debbie and Lou recruit a group of specialists, including down-on-her-luck fashion designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), jewelry maker Amita (Mindy Kaling), profiteer Tammy (Sarah Paulson), street hustler Constance (Awkwafina), and tech genius ‘Nine Ball’ (Rihanna). Together, they plan on switching out the necklace for a fake one, with famous actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) serving as their unsuspecting mule. However, things get a little more complicated once the group learns that one of the main reasons why Debbie has planned this heist is so that she can get revenge against her ex-boyfriend, art dealer Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), who was the one who sent her to prison in the first place.
Now admittedly, it’s safe to say that the plot of Ocean’s 8 has a lot in common with the Ocean’s 11 remake. Both start out with the main protagonist being released from jail and immediately meeting up with their best friend, both have montages where the two recruit their fellow crew members for the heist, and both heists end up getting complicated when it’s revealed that the main protagonist has quite the personal stake in it. Ultimately, though, if there’s one major advantage that Ocean’s 8 has over its three predecessors, it’s that it arguably carries a greater sense of confidence to it when compared to the original trilogy. Now, for the record, I’m not just saying this because this one is headlined by an all-female cast… though with that said, it does sort of play a factor into this (more on that in a bit…). After all, it’s worth noting that Ocean’s 8 ends up sharing a lot more in common with its predecessors than just similar plot-lines. While the film doesn’t necessarily maintain the same exact tight pacing of Soderbergh’s films, its primary heist is carried out in the same effortless manner that defined the heists of the previous films without any major source of conflict to undermine it, something that Debbie even assures her crewmates of before they do it. In other words, Ocean’s 8 does manage to maintain the same type of glitzy aesthetic that the previous films had even with the change in directors. With that said, though, it could be argued that the film loses just a little bit of the visual panache that Soderbergh brought to the table with his three films. And yet, in a way that I just can’t explain, this film ends up flowing a lot smoother than the previous films, and director Gary Ross does a good job of maintaining that flow throughout in this solidly-shot heist flick.
One of the most common criticisms directed towards the Ocean’s trilogy is that while they do feature a terrific ensemble cast, some have argued that this gave the films an incredibly smug tone that ended up being a major turn-off for some audiences. Thankfully, that isn’t even remotely an issue here, as the terrific chemistry between its collection of female leads is arguably the best aspect of Ocean’s 8. This isn’t a case where one of the actresses tries to hog the limelight from their co-stars or, as John Mulaney pointed out in one of his stand-up routines, two characters go off on their own to ‘talk s***’ about their partners behind their backs. All these women work extremely well together, and just like the Avengers films, every member of the group gets to have her own standout moment, whether its screen veterans like Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett or reliable supporting players like Helena Bonham Carter and Mindy Kaling. Because of this, the successes that their characters have during the heist end up being a lot more satisfying when compared to the previous films, and it also helps that the film allows us to connect more with these characters in general when compared to Danny Ocean’s crew. Now, granted, character development in this film is sort of on par with the previous films, where the heist itself is emphasized over everything else. And yet, this film still manages to outdo its predecessors by having a more generally likable group of protagonists who have sympathetic reasons to partake in the heist, whether it’s Debbie’s goal of getting revenge against her ex for deceiving her or Rose and Amita just looking to get out of their dead-end careers.
As I noted in my retrospective of the original trilogy a few months back, I thoroughly enjoyed Steven Soderbergh’s remake of Ocean’s 11 even if I didn’t necessarily see it as one of the best films of its genre. Overall, it was a decently entertaining ‘popcorn flick’; nothing more, nothing less. Unfortunately, I, like many, found Ocean’s 12 to be a vastly disappointing follow-up. While I do recognize why it’s Soderbergh’s personal favorite due to him being able to experiment as a director, it’s ultimately a prime example of what happens when said directorial experimentation goes a bit too far. Thus, Ocean’s 13 ended up going ‘back to basics’, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was my personal favorite of the trilogy due to it having some of the franchise’s best writing and pacing. But as for Ocean’s 8, it may just be my new favorite installment of the Ocean’s franchise. Oh sure, in a lot of ways, it borrows heavily from Ocean’s 11, like having a similarly structured plot that doesn’t necessarily give the main protagonists a lot of opposition during their heist. However, it just ends up working a lot better than what we saw from the previous Ocean’s films, and while I usually don’t try to get into any sort of politically-based discussions when writing these reviews, it’s hard to deny that the fact that this film stars an all-female cast of leads is ultimately one of the biggest contributors to its overall success. The chemistry that these ladies have is far superior to what we got from the predominantly male cast of the original trilogy, and while the film still doesn’t rely too much on character development, these characters are ultimately a more likable group of protagonists by comparison. Thus, while I wouldn’t necessarily call this the ‘best-directed’ or the most ‘well-made’ installment of the Ocean’s franchise, it is quite easily the series’ most satisfying entry to date.
Rating: 4.5/5
