Ocean’s Eight

Title: Ocean’s Eight
Director: Gary Ross
Released: 2018
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rhianna, Awkafina, Helena Bonham Carter, Mandy Kaling, Sarah Paulson

Plot: Having just been released from prision Debbie Ocean is already plotting her next big heist as she sets her sights on 150 Million  Dollar Diamond Necklace at the Met Gala

Review: Working with half the crew but losing none of the star power this genderswapped follow up to the original trilogy (lets just forget that Ratpack original) see’s Danny’s sister orchestrating her own heist upon her release from prision after an art swindle went south. Now gathering her own crew together she plots the snatch of a dimond necklace from the Met Gala.

Switching out the bright lights of Vegas for New York is certainly a great move as it really stops the film from falling into just reworking one of the original heists. It also gives Debbie her own stomping ground even if both her and her partner Lou (Blanchett) feel alittle too similar to Danny and Rusty.

Thankfully the similarities end with Debbie and Lou with the rest of the crew each standing out on thier own merits and not used before skillsets like Rhianna’s hacker Nine Ball and Mindy Kaling’s jewelry maker. Add to this Helena Bonham Carter’s fashion designer and the always fantastic Awkwafina who here shows up as the always required hustler / pickpocket. It’s equally nice that director Gary Ross resists the urge to cram in a bunch of cameos from well known female celebs to ramp up the girl power, which I honestly was expecting from the setting so to not see an akward cameo from Taylor Swift or god forbid Lena Dunham was a welcome suprise. We do however get James Corden as an insurance investigator which feels like it was dropped into the film just to give him a role even as per normal he adds nothing but runtime to the film.

The downside here though is compared to the Ocean’s 11 heists the one here lack alot of the twists and complexity and comes off alittle too strightforward for the brand. I guess we should just be glad it doesn’t pull the franchise killing move of having an actor suddenly play themselves as we got with that Julie Roberts moment in Ocean’s 12.

A fun heist movie with a good energy between the cast, it’s just a shame this feels so self contained as certainly this could have been the start of a fun new trilogy with this crew. But in the meantime it’s a fun watch while it lasts even if it’s not exactly bringing anything new to the genre.