In the year 1960, a movie called Ocean's 11 was released, where a gang plans the elaborate New Year's Eve heist with the precision of a military operation. In 2001, with the director Steven Soderbergh premiered the remake of that movie, Ocean's Eleven, and later in 2004 and 2007 its successive sequels. Today I decided to talk about the spin-off of this franchise that premiered this year: Ocean's 8. That, for the first time, has a cast made up of women instead of men.

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Year: 2018 Category: Comedy Director: Gary Ross Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter.

Plot

Five years, eight months, 12 days, and the account continues. That's the time that Debbie Ocean has been planning the biggest theft of her life. And he knows very well what he needs: a team made up of the best in its sector, starting with his partner Lou Miller. Together, they recruit a team of specialists: the jeweler is Amita; the con artist is Constanza; the perista is Tammy; the hacker is Nine Ball; and the fashion designer is Rose. The goal is the beautiful sum of 150 million dollars in diamonds, a Cartier necklace used by the world-famous actress Daphne Kluger, who will be the center of attention in the charity event of the year, the Met Gala. The plan is practically infallible but everything must be perfect if the team is going to enter and leave with the loot.

Opinion

Ocean's 8 uses a style similar to the one we saw in Ocean's Eleven, but lighter, imitating what had characterized the three installments led by Clooney but without taking it to the final consequences. That translates into a good pace and a visual finish that keeps it in line with the franchise but without contributing anything that defines it individually at that point.

It is interesting that in a film with a cast full of stars and in which the plot revolves around the theft of a glittering diamond necklace, what is missing is a little more brightness. The plot, calculated and sophisticated, always tries to go one step ahead, is mechanical and predictable. And, precisely for that, gratifying: it gives exactly what the public expects. No more no less.

But perhaps the worst part of the film is how badly his declaration of intentions has turned out. It is true that there are hardly any male characters in Ocean's 8, but it is precisely a man that provokes the plot and for a sentimental reason. Was a movie needed only with women? There will be opinions for all tastes, but normality seems far away in terms of gender. The day we stop caring that the protagonists are male or female, will be the one in which we reach an effective equality.

Ocean's 8 relies very much on the charm of the scammers, led by a solvent Sandra Bullock, although we must also mention the great Anne Hathaway. The performances of the actresses Bullock, Hathaway and Cate Blanchett, with some others, compensate for any weakness that the film may have, but still leaves the viewer with a sense of lack. And it has characters that are good and a rhythm that keeps you interested, but does not finish making the final leap.

Although reading this text may seem to see the movie is a real nonsense, I must say that nothing is further from reality. The film works very well as a fast-paced entertainment, with a remarkable set of female actresses, who have a capacity for fun and a style hardly visible in productions of this kind.

It is in its direct confrontation against the magnificent Ocean's Eleven where the new release of the franchise shows its shortcomings and weaknesses, making it clear that its apparent charm and visual power and all its style are no more than an imitation of the work we saw in the previous films.

Trailer

Score

6/10

Ocean's 8 is good as entertainment and its protagonists are very inspired by their roles, but it lacks something that defines it as an individual entity beyond its great female cast. As an entertainment product, it perfectly fulfills its function, but you should not expect anything more than that.