This spin-off from the Ocean’s 11 films, features an all-star cast including Anne Hathaway, Sandra Bullock and Helena Bonham Carter. But what have the critics made of it?
The Guardian: ** “Where, in fact, was the dramatic interest? Nowhere. It just blandly settles on a note of sentimental self-congratulation and unruffled triumph. A group-hug of larceny-lite.”
BBC: ** “The film is never less than breezy entertainment, but never more than an unimaginative diversion.”
Games Radar: *** “Truth be told, Ross’s smart copy of Soderbergh’s house style, right down to the split screens and swaggering soundtrack, simply doesn’t have the original’s magic.”
Variety: “The heist is fun and convincing without being dazzling, and some of the most amusing stuff in the film is just character comedy — like the deadpan joshing of Debbie and her old comrade-in-crime, Lou (Cate Blanchett), or the attempt by Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), a flaked-out ’80s relic of a fashion designer, to woo Daphne into allowing her to dress her for the Gala.”
http://www.scmp.com/ : “A wafer-thin plot is offset by a bunch of charismatic performances in this super enjoyable, all-female update of the Ocean’s heist series.”
rogerebert.com: *** “The sheer brazenness of the crime in “Ocean’s 8” is enough to put a goofy smile on your face. But as is always the case in heist movies, the sustained thrill of the high-wire act comes from watching the players lay out their complex plan, then seeing whether it actually goes as smoothly as they’d hoped.”
Vox.com: “while Ocean’s 8 was never going to be the best movie of summer, it might be one of the ones you enjoy most.”
Screenrant.com: “Ocean’s 8has just as much charm as Ocean’s 11, but fails to deliver a more clever twist to the movie’s heist – which was a key aspect of the 2001 movie for many fans. As a result, though Ocean’s 8 will be sufficiently entertaining for fans of the Ocean’s series, those who go into it hoping for a fun, female-fronted action comedy are more likely to have their expectations met.”
Empire: *** “There is something refreshing about seeing a group of women thrive on their wits, guile, smarts, cunning, proficiency and chutzpah rather than sex. It’s just a shame they weren’t tested even further. They could have handled it.”
The Times: ** “It is dutiful and workmanlike and too often alarmingly uninterested in the eponymous eight women around which it is built.”
Indie Wire: “Despite a cool backdrop and a daring idea, the heist itself feels like a third-tier Soderbergh joint, one that’s temporarily bolstered by the same jazzy music and quick cuts that marked the filmmaker’s trilogy, though carried out with considerably less energy.”
IGN: “Ocean’s 8 makes great use of the entire cast’s talents, giving everyone laugh-out-loud and victorious moments.”
Slant Magazine: “when Bullock and Blanchett share the screen together, the film comes together in a warm rush of camaraderie.”
Culture Whisper: *** “Ocean’s 8 is harmless fun. In one sense, that’s a shame but, in another, it makes it hard to complain too much; it’s a pleasant way to while away a summer evening – after you’ve had one or two too many.”
Paste Magazine: “As sleekly constructed as Ocean’s 8 is, it’s not as artful in its execution as previous installments were. The movie coasts on the pleasure of its ensemble’s company, even if it’s not a clean getaway.”