Ocean’s 8 brings heist movies back in style

Warner Bros. Pictures

It’s been eleven years since Danny Ocean and his group pulled their last heist in Ocean’s 13, and apparently it really was his last heist because Danny Ocean is now dead. Or is he? Yeah, it seems he is. Maybe. You never know with these movies, but he probably is and that’s why Sandra Bullock is now starring as Danny’s sister Debbie in Ocean’s 8. Debbie’s been in prison for almost six years, and she has a score to settle while pulling off one huge heist.

Putting together a team with friends both old and new, Debbie plans to hit the Met Gala. Not the event itself, but rather Cartier, specifically a $150 million diamond necklace that does nothing but sit in a vault. Debbie’s plan, with her old cohort Lou (Cate Blanchett), is to target famous, and famously difficult, actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) by tricking her into using fashion designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter) to design her outfit, the centerpiece being the fabled necklace. By setting up a photo op of Rose with a rival actress, Daphne suddenly needs the ‘has been’ designer, and by that Daphne means ‘iconic,’ and the plan is set in motion with various members of the team infiltrating Vogue magazine and the Met staff while computer hacker Nine Ball (Rihanna) takes care of the security cameras. But Debbie might have something else up her sleeve, like framing her ex, Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), who was the one responsible for setting her up six years earlier. Everything goes to plan until Cartier realizes the necklace they’ve gotten back is a fake and insurance investigator John Frazier (James Corden) gets involved. Does Debbie have all of her bases covered, or has her revenge plot gotten in the way of everything else?

Ocean’s 8 is a light, breezy, heist movie, perfect for audiences already worn out by the loud summer blockbusters already in theaters, with more to come. It’s also clever, even if some of its technology feels a bit sci-fi. (A 3D printer that can print in zirconia? Okay, that really does seem to be a thing. Who knew?) But I do enjoy a good heist movie, especially if it seems to make sense, at least while you’re watching it. I can’t fault the writers on Ocean’s 8 for doing anything that took me out of the story. I bought the whole thing, from how easy it was to talk people into joining the group to the final twist. It was some good storytelling.

But you need a good cast to carry off a story like this convincingly. Perhaps the original trilogy (and the original Ocean’s 11 from 1960) had an easier time of it because the crooks were all men (and it was nice to see Elliott Gould from the Clooney trilogy make a cameo). In Hollywood’s eyes, there are very few women who can carry a movie, so carrying on the series with an all-female cast of crooks may have been a hard sell, but Warner Brothers has assembled the cream of the crop. After some dramatic roles and time away from the cameras, it’s good to see Sandra Bullock back doing a lighter comedic film. In movies like Miss Congeniality and The Heat, she’s a little more animated so it’s nice to see her give Debbie a more measured, thoughtful tone while still being funny. Some of the stars have a bit more to do than others, but it’s still great to see Blanchett, Carter, Hathaway and Rihanna share the screen with Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling and Awkwafina. And a diverse cast as well!

Armitage and Corden get to have their share of the fun as well, and the movie is packed with cameos of celebs playing characters or themselves including Dakota Fanning, Anna Wintour, Derek Blasberg, Katie Holmes, Jamie King, Adriana Lima, Olivia Munn, Zac Posen, Heidi Klum, and Marlo Thomas, Elizabeth Ashley, Dana Ivey and Mary Louise Wilson in pivotal roles later in the movie. Production design, costumes, hair and makeup are all top notch and director Gary Ross (The Hunger Games and the criminally underrated Pleasantville) keeps the intricate plot moving forward at a steady pace, never missing beat and keeping it all under control.

Ocean’s 8 is a summer movie that has something for everyone. A great cast, a fun story and a light tone … what better way to while away some time to escape the summer heat and get a respite from the big special effects extravaganzas?

Ocean’s 8 has a run time of 1 hour 50 minutes and is rated PG-13 for language, drug use, and some suggestive content.