Ocean's 8 - Review
Director: Gary Ross
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Helena Bonham-Carter, Awkwafina
After completing a five-year, eight month and twelve day stint in prison, Debbie Ocean (Bullock) is released and begins to recruit a crew of specialists to enact a high-concept heists that she has been devising since the beginning of her incarceration. The heist in questions? To steal a necklace worth $150 million off the neck of the famous film star Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) at the most iconic fashion event in the world.
The starry cast who form the titular Ocean's 8 emit a crackling chemistry that equals the original trilogy's rapport. Bullock plays the group's leader, Debbie, sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean. At the beginning of the film, she is released from jail and pledges to leave her life of crime behind. However, she has no intention of keeping her word and immediately uses her wily ways to loot cosmetic products and stay in luxury hotels. Debbie has a master plan that she has meticulously fleshed out during her sentence but she needs to recruit a team of highly skilled and intelligent women in order to do so. Cate Blanchett's Lou, Debbie's long-time friend and confidant, becomes the group's second-in-command and rocks an impressive array of suits in the process. Helena Bonham-Carter plays Rose, a has-been fashion designer who is hired to dress Daphne for the MET Ball; Mindy Kaling's jewellery expert Amita is desperate to squirm free of her mother's clutches and Awkwafina's Constance is a pick-pocket and slight of hand extraordinaire. Meanwhile, Sarah Paulson's Tammy is a former profiteer who has settled into suburban life and pop star Rihanna's Nine Ball is a too-cool-for-school tech genius.
The tagline for Ocean's 8 reads "Every con has its pros", but regrettably, the extension of the franchise made famous by the stylistic Steven Soderbergh has more cons than desired. The blame for the film's shortcomings and disappointments fall squarely on the shoulders of the director, Gary Ross, also a co-writer on the film, never successfully creates a real sense of jeopardy and the heist goes off without a hitch, and any hiccups that threaten to torpedo the operation are swiftly resolved. Although it's refreshing to see a summer blockbuster movie that isn't reliant upon CGI or superhero's striving to save the world, Ocean's 8 plays it incredibly safe with its direction. The comedy often falls flat and jokes that promise to pack a punch or deliver on their potential fail to connect, a collateral effect of the stilted pacing.
While the end product is certainly entertaining due to the quality of its cast and a sequel is greatly in demand, Ocean's 8 could be exponentially improved with a director at the helm who is willing to be bolder and take more creative risks.
EB
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Helena Bonham-Carter, Awkwafina
The starry cast who form the titular Ocean's 8 emit a crackling chemistry that equals the original trilogy's rapport. Bullock plays the group's leader, Debbie, sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean. At the beginning of the film, she is released from jail and pledges to leave her life of crime behind. However, she has no intention of keeping her word and immediately uses her wily ways to loot cosmetic products and stay in luxury hotels. Debbie has a master plan that she has meticulously fleshed out during her sentence but she needs to recruit a team of highly skilled and intelligent women in order to do so. Cate Blanchett's Lou, Debbie's long-time friend and confidant, becomes the group's second-in-command and rocks an impressive array of suits in the process. Helena Bonham-Carter plays Rose, a has-been fashion designer who is hired to dress Daphne for the MET Ball; Mindy Kaling's jewellery expert Amita is desperate to squirm free of her mother's clutches and Awkwafina's Constance is a pick-pocket and slight of hand extraordinaire. Meanwhile, Sarah Paulson's Tammy is a former profiteer who has settled into suburban life and pop star Rihanna's Nine Ball is a too-cool-for-school tech genius.
The tagline for Ocean's 8 reads "Every con has its pros", but regrettably, the extension of the franchise made famous by the stylistic Steven Soderbergh has more cons than desired. The blame for the film's shortcomings and disappointments fall squarely on the shoulders of the director, Gary Ross, also a co-writer on the film, never successfully creates a real sense of jeopardy and the heist goes off without a hitch, and any hiccups that threaten to torpedo the operation are swiftly resolved. Although it's refreshing to see a summer blockbuster movie that isn't reliant upon CGI or superhero's striving to save the world, Ocean's 8 plays it incredibly safe with its direction. The comedy often falls flat and jokes that promise to pack a punch or deliver on their potential fail to connect, a collateral effect of the stilted pacing.
While the end product is certainly entertaining due to the quality of its cast and a sequel is greatly in demand, Ocean's 8 could be exponentially improved with a director at the helm who is willing to be bolder and take more creative risks.
EB
Comments
Post a Comment