West Windsor, New Jersey, U.S.A. – Ocean’s 8 brought an insane amount of talent to the big screen and it is paying off in the box office. Rihanna, Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway are just a few of the cast members who should be credited.
This newest addition to the Ocean’s trilogy, Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, the sister of Danny Ocean who was played by George Clooney in the previous films.
Bullock’s character assembles a team of women with various talents to conduct a major heist.
The target is to steal a $150 million Cartier necklace called the Jean Toussaint off of a celebrity actress’s neck at the Met Gala, the celebrity being played by Hathaway.
Following the story of a con, the themes and cinematography resembled that of other Ocean’s movies but was recreated enough to stand on its own.
The first scenes of the movie, for instance, closely mimic the opening scenes of Ocean’s Eleven.
The camera immediately pans to Debbie at a parole hearing and she exits the jail with no one to pick her up, just like Clooney did, except in heels and a pretty dress instead of a tuxedo.
Despite being an all-female group of thieves, the movie had the same characteristics of action and heist films, which is a genre generally dominated by men.
It had the thrills, the moves and the range of characters, from a hacker, a pickpocket, a distraction and even the partner in crime.
Ocean’s 8 stands on its own, not by making the heavily-female cast the main focus, but by acknowledging it and concentrating on the plot. On top of that, it added fashion, jewels and celebrity cameos and took away the unnecessary violence and fight scenes. All this made it an enjoyable and fun movie.
One unfortunate subplot – the downside of the whole movie – was the involvement of Debbie Ocean’s former lover, the reason she went to jail.
The rest of the movie involved no relationships and didn’t show any dependency on men. From a viewer’s perspective, that was part of the appeal.
Regardless, the movie has been a success, in reaching its goal in the box office as well as reaching its viewers. Ocean’s 8 ranked at number one at this weekend’s box office making 41 million dollars domestically. This in itself, as explained in a Forbes headline, “proves for the 999th time that women aren’t box office poison.”
But Ocean’s 8 is a smash success at the box office, and easily the best way to start a movie filled summer. It’s the perfect opener for upcoming movies, and what’s better than a fun heist movie with a fierce plot?
Gauri Nema is a Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
