The highly anticipated film, considered a “gender-bent” version of the original Ocean’s trilogy, Ocean’s 8 (directed by Gary Ross) is doing really well at the box office. But how does it compare to the original series, or even fare as a standalone film?
The reviews so far are a mixed bag, and after watching the movie, I can truthfully say I understand some of those perspectives, even though I thoroughly enjoyed the film. Here’s what I thought. Warning: spoilers ahead!
Ocean’s 8 (2018) starred an incredible ensemble cast, and I was super excited to see some of my favourite actresses interact with one another. Seeing Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock, Helena Bonham Carter, and Rihanna together is reason enough to ride the high, and the addition of Awkwafina (though I’m not familiar with her work prior) and Anne Hathaway was delightful. More notably, the roles they were playing – those of con artists in sole control of a heist – are ones that have not been given to women often. Ocean’s 8 in essence revolutionizes in its aim to give traditionally “male” roles to women. So of course, anyone who considers themselves a feminist would be incredibly excited to see some badass women work together to pull off a large-scale heist.
As a kid, I grew up routinely watching Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s films. Even though the films were male dominated, that doesn’t take away from the fact that they were amazing. Just as the actress combination of Ocean’s 8 thrills me, that same thrill is what Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13 evoked in the early 2000s. The most popular of Hollywood actors were grouped together, and more importantly, had extraordinary chemistry onscreen. Seeing George Clooney’s Danny and Brad Pitt’s Rusty is enough to satisfy, but then throw in Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Elliott Gould, and the rest of the cast together, and you have an A-list heist film. Coupled with Soderbergh’s auteur-like cinematography, as well as the mind-blowing attention to detail in the plotlines, these films were completely unique even as far as heist films go.
The Ocean’s 8 plotline was pretty formulaic to the original storylines: plan an elaborate heist, hire the appropriate people, and somehow pull off the impossible (which is where the spectacle and excitement lies). The fact that the storyline was essentially a mirror of Ocean’s 11 in a lot of ways was certainly successful, though some could say it was a bit too derivative. My main problem, however, was that I found the humour somewhat lacked. Though the stoic and sarcastic Sandra Bullock embodied the Ocean charm quite well, and Cate Blanchett was basically Brad Pitt’s Rusty to a T (minus the constant oral fixation), the humorous interactions, quips and even references to pop culture fell a bit short, and rarely made me laugh out loud. To act as a comparison, moments of the original Ocean’s were iconic, this clip from Ocean’s 11 being one of my favourites:
That being said, the way the heist in Ocean’s 8 was executed was properly fantastic. Tight, astonishing, and incredibly well thought-out are the telltale factors of the originals, and this movie did not fail to adhere to that framework. While some have criticized that a diamond heist for a group of females may be “sexist”, I seriously disagree. When you think about it, stealing jewels is incredibly efficient; they don’t take up as much space as wads of cash, and are worth some serious dollars. Essentially, the jewels have less to do with feminine fascination than they are a marker of proficiency. The characters use their tremendous intelligence as well as unapologetic femininity to pull off the heist, becoming a paragon of feminist movement.
The only other thing I may criticize about the film is the moment where Debbie and Lou reveal to the crew that “The Amazing” Yen (from the original series) helped with a heist within the heist: he and Lou steal the Crown Jewels from the Met Gala collection while the theft of the Toussaint preoccupies everyone else. While I initially loved the big reveal of this at the very end of the movie, I realized afterwards that I felt a bit cheated. The way that it was framed was that the elaborate theft of the Toussaint that the eight spent half the movie planning was more of a diversion – which most of them were not aware about – until the heist was over. And while I absolutely love Yen and his incredible acrobatic skills (as well as the nostalgia of seeing an Ocean’s alumnus), it was due to him that the heist was elevated exponentially. Normally I wouldn’t cause grievance about an element like this, but since the film worked so hard to be an all-female cast, it felt a bit strange to have such a crucial moment fulfilled by a male character.
All in all, I found it to be a truly enjoyable film. The soundtrack was amazing, and the cinematography, scenework, sound effects and music mimicked the atmosphere of the original series extremely well, even though Soderbergh did not direct this one. At the core, Ocean’s 8 stayed true to the essence of its source material, topped off with cameos from Elliott Gould and Qin Shaobo. If I had any issues with the movie it was in the writing, and not at all with the acting, as I found every single one of the main actors to excel in their roles. I give the movie an A- rating, and I will leave off with this: it’s important to critically analyze anything you read or watch, so even though the concept of a gender-bent film is amazing, it’s totally okay to have an opinion you might think is unpopular if you truly understand why you think so. Let us know what your thoughts are!
~ Z ~
Fun Fact: Ocean’s 11 (2001) is actually based on an 1960 heist film of the same name!
Photo belong to Warner Bros. Productions
