Ever since the completely stacked cast of Ocean’s 8 was announced, I’d been excitedly counting down the days to see this movie. Seriously: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter? I love them all! (Full disclosure: I did not know who Awkwafina was before seeing this movie and Anne Hathaway grates on my nerves. But the others, YES PLEASE.)
Not to mention the fact that they were doing a female-driven reboot of one of my favourite movie franchises of all time – it’s Hollywood gold. In my opinion, the only thing better than a bunch of women in a movie than a bunch of women in a movie pulling off a zesty caper. And what a caper this is.
In a non-spoilery nutshell: Debbie Ocean (Bullock) – yep, sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney in the original film) – is fresh out of jail and has been cooking up a Scheme. She wants to steal Cartier‘s super-rare diamond necklace, The Toussaint, which has been locked in a vault for decades and is worth a cool $150 million. So what better place to steal it than off the neck of famous person Daphne Kluger (Hathaway) at the super A-list Met Gala? It’s bloody genius.
For this to work, Ocean needs help, in the form of her old partner in crime Lou (Blanchett), a dodgy diamond expert named Amita (Kaling), hacker 9-Ball (Rihanna), crook-turned-suburban mom Tammy (Paulson), an expert pickpocket (Awkwafina) and a fashion designer desperate for a quick buck (Bonham Carter). And together, these gals set out to pull of the mother of all heists, all while wearing amazing outerwear.
On paper, Ocean’s 8 could not fail – and I don’t think it will fail, in that I think a lot of people will flock to see it, which is a huge win for the future of female-driven film. But it maybe wasn’t as mind-blowingly amazing as I hoped it would be.
I mean, I still really enjoyed it – with this kind of casting, you can’t fail. Everyone is great in this movie. Even Riri – who as much as I adore the woman has been pretty terrible in all her cinematic ventures thus far (Battleship, anyone?) – somehow pulls off playing a computer hacker. And Hathaway, who stars as a vapid Hollywood celeb, takes the piss out of vapid Hollywood celebs so brilliantly.
And it goes without saying that Blanchett, Bullock, Paulson, Bonham Carter and Kaling completely slay because they always do. And Awkwafina (who Wikipedia tells me is a rapper but also a “comedy rapper”) is a delight. There’s a couple of cameos from the original film, but I won’t say who because, folks, it’s fun to be surprised.
But I reckon Ocean’s 8 is ever-so-slightly let down the fact that this has all been done before.
I hate to do this, but I kinda have to here: let’s throw back to Ocean’s Eleven. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, it featured the quick-fire dialogue and snappy editing (as well as a fabulous jazzy soundtrack) that he’s featured in a handful of his movies (the Ocean’s series, The Informant! etc). It was a fast-paced zesty caper led by the triple-threat situation of Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, and aside from that star power the reason it became an instant classic was because it was amazing, funny, and fresh.
That is exactly what Ocean’s 8 has working against it is: it’s not fresh. This time directed by Gary Ross, it’s got the star power, the jazzy soundtrack, the sassy one-liners, the fast-paced caper, the fun. The only thing is: we’ve seen it before, but with penises. It’s like the ghost of the first movie is still hanging around, and it stops this film from really flying.
I’m all for a huge Hollywood movie featuring eight super talented ladies, but can’t it be an amazing, funny and fresh idea? They deserve that, I think.
Ocean’s 8 is in cinemas from June 7.
