Rating (3 out of 5)

I am a fan of Ocean’s 11. We watch it all the time. Ocean’s 12 and 13 definitely not as big of fans of these movies. There are scenes in those movies that are good, but as a whole they are weaker. So I had great pause when they came out with Ocean’s 8.

Basically the plot line has strong similarities to Ocean’s 11, Sandra Bullock gets out of jail, and finds her good partner to execute a heist. In addition to the heist, she seeks revenge on a former lover rather than trying to get his wife back, but similar enough.

It even goes through the same steps of assembling the team, and facing the last minute challenge. Instead of an EMP it is a special magnetic lock. So the script writing wasn’t overly complicated, and is easy for us to follow. Automatic 1 star off for lack of originality.

So let’s talk execution. The move was well paced and moved along well. Sandra Bullock pulling her small cons to get the movie started were entertaining. I always like a good training/getting the band back together type scenario, and thought they did a good job in bringing all the crew into the story.

Warning, some spoilers to come. Like Ocean’s 11, there is technology that does not actually exists, such as printer fake diamond necklaces with a 3D printer. Additionally, they show Cate Blanchett buying a toy submarine at the toy store and using it for the heist. For anyone who has kids, you know one of these cheap toys would have been lucky to last five minutes, let alone back and forth tugging a back of jewels. I won’t deduct a star from it, since it is movie, but a heist like that would have been more enjoyable by the audience if it was more realistic.

The other scene that I found to be a bit unrealistic was Helen Bonham Carter’s character, sneaking a video on her phone of the cool locking mechanism. Really to be that sly with a phone, when they make her to be a bit awkward in every other scene was just a bit to convenient. Again, a bit of lazy script writing.

Seriously, why don’t we think the Cartier would have the same technology on the necklace. Wouldn’t they have some RFID chip or other small device attached to the necklace. If they can have a cool locking mechanism, and they hire two international mercenaries to protect the necklace, wouldn’t it make sense they track it electronically.

In the final scenes of the movie, the reveal that in addition to the Toussaint diamond, they stole the royal jewels in the room next door, and that Anne Hathaway was part of their crew, apparently a last minute add. Saw this in a couple of movies lately where they reveal new items to the audience that you didn’t know happened. To me this is just lazy script writing, and it is being used way too much.

The end paired with the technology was what turned me off the movie, which both together was another star. If they had just stuck to the heist and the team, it would have been a better move. I thought with all the characters characters they had a good basis, and they threw people away for cheap gimmicks.