Movie Review on “Oceans 8” by Kaila Mank

For people who have enjoyed the “Ocean’s” film series - “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001), “Ocean’s Twelve” (2004) and “Ocean’s Thirteen” (2007), they were no doubt excited to hear about the new “Ocean’s 8” coming out in theaters.

It was no surprise on June 8, 2018 “Ocean’s 8” was released, it was a race to the theaters. I was right

there with all the excitement, as my family and I headed to the drive-in to see it early this summer.

 The plot of this story is about Danny Ocean’s estranged younger sister Debbie (Sandra Bullock) who attempts to pull off the biggest heist of the century at the New York City’s star-studded annual Met Gala.

After getting out of jail for good behavior, Debbie is on a mission to assemble her perfect all- female crew. Now, I am a huge fan of the “Ocean’s”, and in my opinion, the plot was clever on paper. But when put into action, it was sloppy and very disorganized.

The mix of actors, as chosen, did not mix well with the concept of “Ocean’s 8” and did not match any of the personalities from any other “Ocean’s.”

A significant difference I found that makes a good movie from a bad one is the action, suspense and excitement. In all the other “Ocean’s” movies, there was action and conflict in the plot, however, this all-female crew just walked through the film with no suspense. Expecting a continuation from the other films, I simply could not find the excitement that keeps you on the edge of your seat. There never seemed to be a climax to the story.

In my final opinion, I do believe that the director (Steven Soderbergh) of the first three films did a much better job than Gary Ross in this particular film.

Overall, something that was really good and very strong about this movie was the popular cast characters. Gary Ross (director) did one thing right in this entire movie: it was loaded with well-known actors. But if there ever is a next film, I would recommend the director to use their strengths and create a better storyline.