I have a confession. I find it increasingly challenging for heist films to hold my attention, partly due to oversaturation and partly due to the fact that the Ocean’s films have suffocated the genre they once reinvigorated with the decent yet somewhat overrated Ocean’s Eleven (2001).

Every subsequent Ocean’s sequel seems to think that it is breezier, cleverer, more stylish and fun than it actually is. It’s like that annoying person hitting on everyone at the party because they think they are a 10 when they are more like a 7, or that local playboy-turned-politician still embarrassingly acting like he is in his prime around the opposite sex even when he is 65.

Ocean’s 8 is such a faithful all-female sequel to the last film in the series, Ocean’s Thirteen (2007) that it retains all of the flaws of the franchise. Yes, the film can be fun, just not fun enough. Yes, the film is stylish in more ways than one, just not stylish enough for us to overlook the shortcomings. Certainly, the women look fabulous in their fashionable outfits while the film’s editing and direction have the sort of slickness that makes it clear that Gary Ross spent an eternity replicating (aping if you want to be unkind) Steven Soderbergh’s style. But some of this gets annoying when you realise the film, like its predecessors, has little else, and the filmmaker, producers and cast were pretentious enough to believe that the actors could show up in snazzy outfits and sell the film for its star appeal alone.

Ocean’s Eight believes it can charm you into submission, when it is dumb as a doorknob

This is a shame because Ocean’s 8 features an ensemble cast of talented actors. There is Sandra Bullock (Debbie Ocean) who plays Danny Ocean’s estranged sister and criminal mastermind behind this entire operation, Cate Blanchett (Lou) as Debbie’s professional and romantic partner, Anne Hathaway (Daphne Kluger) who plays a self-involved celebrity targeted by the heist, Mindy Kailing (Amita) as a South Asian jewellery maker looking for independence, Helena Bonham Carter (Rose Weil) as a struggling and slightly neurotic fashion designer, Awkwafina (Constance) a talented small-time street criminal, Rihanna (Nine Ball) a techie and Sarah Paulson (Tammy) a mum and a profiteer.

The performers Ocean’s 8 do a fair job in their roles, have decent chemistry and clearly are having fun in their roles. Unfortunately, their energy doesn’t translate to non-stop fun for the audience. As is a pattern in the series, the script is lacklustre and doesn’t utilise the talent on offer. The chemistry shouldn’t be decent with a cast like this, it should sizzle. Moreover, the characterisation is one-dimensional as they come, leaving little emotional investment in the fate of the people on screen, or their heist. To make matters worse, the narrative lacks a compelling antagonist. If you, as a viewer, don’t care whether these likable thieves get caught or not, then the screenwriters haven’t done their job.

If you think about it, even though it sells itself as a sequel, in many ways Ocean’s 8 feels like a lazy remake of Ocean’s Eleven. It is essentially the same plot and same style, in a film that believes it can charm you into submission, when it is dumb as a doorknob. I think it is great that we are getting all-female remakes/sequels to popular intellectual properties that were once headlined by all-male casts, but you can’t make a compelling film without a good story regardless of the gender of your actors.

Rated PG-13 for language, drug use, and some suggestive content

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 24th, 2018