In the age of gender equality, women have been recently getting the spotlight in Hollywood movies, to further drive the fact that women are as capable as men. Even in crime.
So here comes Ocean’s 8, the all-female makeover of the Ocean’s franchise, which was reintroduced to us in the silver screen in 2001 with the wildly exciting Ocean’s 11, which gave birth to a trilogy all gratifyingly directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Ocean’s 8 is visually refreshing: glammed-up, sharp-looking women, with heavily made-up faces, complete with piercing smoky eyes. And they’re all fashionably frocked, evading both authorities and the fashion police.
In Ocean’s 8, Sandra Bullock takes the place of George Clooney, while Cate Blanchett is the female counterpart of Brad Pitt, stunning in jaw-dropping androgynous sartorial elegant punk fashion, sporting suede, velvet, leather, and that eye-popping pale blue suit that trumps even the movie’s screenplay.
But before we elaborate on that, let’s first begin with the story.
Bullock is actually the dead Danny Ocean’s (Clooney) sister, Debbie. The film opens just as she’s about to get out of the slammer, telling the officer how she’s going to live her new life: Hold a decent job, pay the bills, take a walk, you know, like she’s describing the rest of our lives.
But as soon as she steps out of the prison in a black cocktail dress that she came arrested in nearly six years ago, we mentally squeal in glee that the con artist in her blood, the Ocean blood, comes back alive in a matter of seconds.
We watch Debbie promptly begin her “necessary” scams in intimidating swagger and poise. Effortless and smooth. Your excitement spikes up. If her deceptions thrill and delight even in small doses, you naturally anticipate that she’s about to execute one of the most exciting heists in cinematic history.
Well, wrong. As easy as she swipes expensive cosmetics at the Bergdorf Goodman, the heist you are about to witness is equally smooth. As in ruffle-, hassle-free. Devoid of threat and conflict.
After getting out of the pen and taking a much needed rest at a swanky hotel, she doesn’t waste any more time and meets up with ex-partner-in-crime Lou (Blanchett) and pitches a creative project: a jewel heist at the Met Gala. The target: a 150-million dollar Cartier necklace, the Toussaint.
The pair recruits skilled and desperate-for-cash ladies to complete the team and form the titular Ocean’s 8: jewelry maker Amita (Mindy Kaling); pickpocket Constance (Awkwafina); black-market dealer Tammy (Sarah Paulson); hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna); a deep-in-debt fashion designer, Rose (Helena Bonham Carter); and an unsuspecting accomplice, A-lister doltish actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway).
Director Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) directs a cast of unarguably talented female cast. They’re beautiful to look at, arresting, and oozing with girl power. The problem is, the execution of the heist– it requires greater suspension of disbelief.
According to Debbie, she hatched up the jewel heist in five years, eight months, and 12 days. That’s a long time for something so simple. And while preparing for the heist, everything feels ridiculously convenient.
These women rely on the magic of technology and sheer luck–and they’re always unbelievably lucky, the odds always in their favor. The engineering so smooth, with barely a hiccup, that the narrative almost borders on fantasy.
But it’s never boring, it just lacks nail-biting suspense. There is thrill in the idea of these women pulling off the job, and you know without a doubt that they will get the Toussaint. But with such smooth-sailing, convenient mechanisms, and unbelievable manipulations, the heist loses its credibility. The Met Gala itself, the annual fundraising event, even fails to impress.
Towards the end, the film surprises with a mediocre twist, and the team, as foreseen, comes out triumphant, but leaves you short-changed. You were expecting a bigger cut out of the entertainment, but Ocean’s 8 sorta conned you.
2.5 out of 5 stars
June 13, 2018 in Philippine cinemas
June 13, 2018 in Philippine cinemas
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