Ocean's Eight (2018)

While it may not be as cool or witty as the first instalment of the series it is a part of, Ocean's Eight seems to have been yet another enjoyable slice of entertainment now reframed/erased by those who become enraged when women have the audacity to enjoy some more representation onscreen. It's silly and implausible, but the fantastic cast help to make it an easy pleasure from start to finish.

Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, related to a certain Danny (of course). We first see Debbie as she's being released from prison, and it's not long until she's hatching what she believes is a foolproof plan for a legendary robbery. It's going to take place during the Met Gala. She'll need the help of her partner, Lou (Cate Blanchett), and the plan will rely on various skills brought to the table by a fence named Tammy (Sarah Paulson), a nible-fingered pickpocket named Constance (Awkwafina), a fashion designer named Rose (Helena Bonham Carter), a hacker nicknamed Nine Ball (Rihanna), and a jewellery maker named Amita (Mindy Kaling). They also need to manipulate and make use of a vain actress, Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), and it would be a big bonus for Debbie if she could find a way to get revenge on Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), the man who was responsible for her being caught and sent to prison years ago.

Directed by Gary Ross, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Olivia Milch, this is a fine caper, absolutely in line with the other instalments in this movie series. A lot of the appeal stems from the charm of the leads, the big score is impressively audacious, and a couple of twists and turns on the way to the end credits will keep viewers on their toes without them feeling cheated. You get a lot of celebrity cameos, all helping to ensure that the Met Gala feels just busy and glamorous enough to make it believable, and there's a good attempt to replicate the energy and cool style of the other movies, particularly when it comes to the unflappable nature of our main character reacting to fluid and precarious situations.

Bullock allows her star power to shine bright in the lead role, and she's a fantastic lynchpin for the entire cast. Blanchett works well alongside her, equally calm, but also slightly more cautious as some of the risks are being calculated. Paulson and Carter both have a lot of fun in their roles, Awkwafina feels like perfect casting for her character, and both Kaling and Rihanna are just the right personalities to round out the core group. Hathaway seems to enjoy playing someone so egotistical and vain, Armitage is allowed to play his part in a way that makes it very easy to root for his downfall, and there are amusing little moments for Elliott Gould and James Corden.

As is the way with many sequels, the main thing working against this is the large shadow cast by the original. It still proves to be worthwhile though, and the way in which our main characters rely on women being ignored feeds nicely into the main scheme. It shows that there could be one or two extra features in this series yet, and I'd certainly be happy enough to one day sit down to watch an Ocean's Nine.

8/10

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Netflix And Chill: Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets (2017)

A variety of things can save movies from being terrible. There could be one great performance, there could be an enjoyable twist in the third act, there could be some screentime for Diora Baird (what? each to their own, don't you judge me). Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets manages to avoid being a terrible movie because of the sheer abundance of visual gorgeousness and design creativity on display. There are also a couple of great supporting turns, but it's the visuals that help to make the 120+ minute runtime much more bearable than it otherwise would be.

Dane DeHaan is Major Valerian, an agent who works alongside Sergeant Laureline (played by Cara Delevingne). He's also in love with her, but she is wary of his long list of past loves signifying a fear of commitment. More importantly, the two are tasked with a mission that will take them into the city of a thousand planets, hence the title. There are moments of action, many different lifeforms on display, and a race against the clock. That's all you need to know.

Written and directed by Luc Besson, based on a comic book series by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mezieres, this is a film that could have been great. Besson is on good form here, obviously in love with the material and pulling out all of the stops to realise as many vibrant and fully-textured different environments onscreen as he can. He takes time to let the camera soak up plenty of details, but is equally happy to zoom and spin around while following characters through a number of chase sequences. He doesn't do as well with the script but it's standard pulpy sci-fi stuff, and fans of this kind of fare will have endured much worse.

The problem really comes from the leads, who just aren't anywhere close to being charismatic enough to cover over the weaker parts and sell the shenanigans. I like both DeHaan and Delevingne, the former is especially good in the right roles, but neither of them work here. It's not that they're terrible, they're just not a fit for the roles, nor do they work well off one another. That just becomes more and more obvious whenever we get fun turns from Clive Owen, Ethan Hawke, and even Rihanna (yes, she's very good in her small role). Herbie Hancock is a standard, gruff, authority figure, and he's fine in his role, but it's the others who get to look like they're actually enjoying themselves whenever they're onscreen.

There are other problems. The score by Alexandre Desplat doesn't feel right for the visuals (and I know that I don't mention music in films as often as I should, mainly because when it works it's easy to notice it less, like great CGI). It lacks any sense of grandeur or magic, often bringing it to your attention by being so relentlessly . . . flat while the visuals dazzle. It's also too busy at times, in terms of both characters and plot points. An action sequence in the first act never works as well as it should for this reason, although it is still a lot of fun. Last, but not least, you have the same problem that affected the unfairly-maligned John Carter. We've seen a lot of this stuff before, but that's down to the source material being around since the late 1960s, which is some time before many of the movies and stories it may have subsequently influenced.

If you're looking for some smart sci-fi then look elsewhere, but if you're looking for some easy sci-fi entertainment full to the brim with imagination and a sense of fun then this should hit the spot. It's just a shame that it didn't do enough in the other departments to complement the style and visuals.

6/10

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