I really enjoyed this movie for the most part. The setup was clever, the actresses are brilliant, there are some really good lines in it, but it felt a bit rushed and the ending was weak.
Ocean's Eight is a good successor to the Ocean's legacy, but not a great one (so perhaps on par with Twelve), and it really comes down to the direction. When you compare it to Soderbergh's Eleven, it lacks pace and style. The editing is ordinary instead of fun, and the music doesn't have the same drive. So it's down to the cast to keep it alive through the mechanics of a fairly original caper, and for the most part, they succeed, especially on the basis of comedy. Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham-Carter are hilarious, and I wish Awkwafina and Mindy Kaling had a little more to do, cuz they're fun too. Rihanna's got a pretty good character. Unfortunately it's the leads who are too thinly written. Cate Blanchett is a rockin' biker chick, but little more than Sandra Bullock's right hand woman. And Bullock is fine, but she should be more than fine to lead such a company. When the movie's good, it's quite good, but it takes too many shortcuts (the bit with 9-Ball's sister, what?) and at times barely motivates its characters. A bit of fun, but I wanted better for these actresses.
Excellent acting. Honestly, really solid performances. The soundtrack is also almost like it's pulled from my playlists. Gold on the Ceiling? Superfly? C'mon thats on my daily tracklist. Loved it.
But wow was the writing and directing bad. Not even bad, inconsistent. Ocean's Eleven was great because it picked a style and tone and stuck with it and stayed consistent. This movie didn't seem to have a consistent personality. Same goes for the writing. At times, the writing is very slick and the beats just rattle off. Other times it's laughably bad. In the intro they're introducing a character and show she's a conman by watering down vodka. It's very clear and well shown. Then she gets up and explicitly says "Hey we're watering down vodka that's what we do here and here's why we do it."
The story itself was actually perfectly fine. I enjoyed the heist, it was interesting, and the broad strokes were good, but line for line it's better played in the background. Sometimes it's like Mission Impossible, and other times it's like Now You See Me *2*.
A terribly bland and boring film. All the actors deliver a solid performance, and especially Anne Hathaway's character is adorable, but that's the only good thing to be said about the movie.
The story makes little sense and while obvious plotholes are glossed over or brushed aside with techno-magic it focuses instead on stupid, unrealistic details. So far that would be ok for a film in the Ocean's series, but the others are at least somewhat interesting and fun. This one is just pointless.
I wasn't expecting much as James Corden is in it and had avoided it because of this since it's release, but the film isn't that bad. More a Sunday afternoon viewing than a Friday night blockbuster.
Nothing ground-breaking here, a simple heist where everything goes exactly to plan... kinda prefer it when everything goes wrong but they manage to rally anyway so you see how good they are off the cuff.
Every problem had a quick solution, they just so happened to know a woman who could create the same complicated magnet they needed... (Really?)
No twists, no surprises and no passion. Sandra Bullock should have been roaring about her betrayal but she takes it all in her stride like no wronged woman ever has in history....
It really reveals how stylistic the original Ocean's movies are because when it's lacking it absolutely shows which is the core problem here. Many of the characters don't have much to do and there is little to no camaraderie like in the original trilogy. I keep going back to that one scene in Ocean's 11 where all the guys are meeting each other for the first time and it really seems throughout the course of the film they have great chemistry together. There's no chemistry here, just a bunch of ladies thrown together.
One line of dialog was quite unforgivable though, when Bullock's character says, "somewhere out there is an eight-year old girl, lying in bed, dreaming of being a criminal. Let's do this for her." Absolutely disgusting message, incouraging young children to become criminals gets a hard pass from me. Absolutely floored that the scriptwriters put that in there.
A worthy edition to the franchise, the movie does not overly play on the gender swap of the movie and rather cleverly loans elements from the originals. With a
a few nice small cameos from the previous ones and celebrity cameos on its own, this movie had just enough bling. The surprise twist is well enough to give the movie the ocean twist and give its place in the franchise.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 19
Ralf
At least I know how to steal make-up nowkaaaaaro
I really enjoyed this movie for the most part. The setup was clever, the actresses are brilliant, there are some really good lines in it, but it felt a bit rushed and the ending was weak.Siskoid
Ocean's Eight is a good successor to the Ocean's legacy, but not a great one (so perhaps on par with Twelve), and it really comes down to the direction. When you compare it to Soderbergh's Eleven, it lacks pace and style. The editing is ordinary instead of fun, and the music doesn't have the same drive. So it's down to the cast to keep it alive through the mechanics of a fairly original caper, and for the most part, they succeed, especially on the basis of comedy. Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham-Carter are hilarious, and I wish Awkwafina and Mindy Kaling had a little more to do, cuz they're fun too. Rihanna's got a pretty good character. Unfortunately it's the leads who are too thinly written. Cate Blanchett is a rockin' biker chick, but little more than Sandra Bullock's right hand woman. And Bullock is fine, but she should be more than fine to lead such a company. When the movie's good, it's quite good, but it takes too many shortcuts (the bit with 9-Ball's sister, what?) and at times barely motivates its characters. A bit of fun, but I wanted better for these actresses.gobberpooper
Excellent acting. Honestly, really solid performances. The soundtrack is also almost like it's pulled from my playlists. Gold on the Ceiling? Superfly? C'mon thats on my daily tracklist. Loved it.But wow was the writing and directing bad. Not even bad, inconsistent. Ocean's Eleven was great because it picked a style and tone and stuck with it and stayed consistent. This movie didn't seem to have a consistent personality. Same goes for the writing. At times, the writing is very slick and the beats just rattle off. Other times it's laughably bad. In the intro they're introducing a character and show she's a conman by watering down vodka. It's very clear and well shown. Then she gets up and explicitly says "Hey we're watering down vodka that's what we do here and here's why we do it."
The story itself was actually perfectly fine. I enjoyed the heist, it was interesting, and the broad strokes were good, but line for line it's better played in the background. Sometimes it's like Mission Impossible, and other times it's like Now You See Me *2*.
Inconsistent.
crazy_bitch
A terribly bland and boring film. All the actors deliver a solid performance, and especially Anne Hathaway's character is adorable, but that's the only good thing to be said about the movie.The story makes little sense and while obvious plotholes are glossed over or brushed aside with techno-magic it focuses instead on stupid, unrealistic details. So far that would be ok for a film in the Ocean's series, but the others are at least somewhat interesting and fun. This one is just pointless.
dippygirl78
I wasn't expecting much as James Corden is in it and had avoided it because of this since it's release, but the film isn't that bad. More a Sunday afternoon viewing than a Friday night blockbuster.Nothing ground-breaking here, a simple heist where everything goes exactly to plan... kinda prefer it when everything goes wrong but they manage to rally anyway so you see how good they are off the cuff.
Every problem had a quick solution, they just so happened to know a woman who could create the same complicated magnet they needed... (Really?)
No twists, no surprises and no passion. Sandra Bullock should have been roaring about her betrayal but she takes it all in her stride like no wronged woman ever has in history....
Emiam
6/10No direct news added. Entertainment for the moment.
satisfythecrave
maybe I don't have fun at the movies anymore...but..........what /was/ this?DisneyStitch
It really reveals how stylistic the original Ocean's movies are because when it's lacking it absolutely shows which is the core problem here. Many of the characters don't have much to do and there is little to no camaraderie like in the original trilogy. I keep going back to that one scene in Ocean's 11 where all the guys are meeting each other for the first time and it really seems throughout the course of the film they have great chemistry together. There's no chemistry here, just a bunch of ladies thrown together.One line of dialog was quite unforgivable though, when Bullock's character says, "somewhere out there is an eight-year old girl, lying in bed, dreaming of being a criminal. Let's do this for her." Absolutely disgusting message, incouraging young children to become criminals gets a hard pass from me. Absolutely floored that the scriptwriters put that in there.
Earring72
Boring and lifeless. No thrills or fun and really nothing exciting. What a dragJoseph Conrad
A worthy edition to the franchise, the movie does not overly play on the gender swap of the movie and rather cleverly loans elements from the originals. With aFlops
Yawn.buc86
Is there any real reason this needed to be an all-female heist? Why do these films always need to be a team of a single gender?At least this was better than Twelve though.
fbillys
Two words: Anne Hathawayairi86ja
Cate Blanchett is so amazingly cool with her outfits, feel in love with her one more timeShowing items 1 – 15 of 19