Review: Ocean's 8 - A bland forgettable heist movie that criminally wastes the acting talent at it's disposal!

The arrival of Oceans 8 to Tralee Omniplex was one that was always going to intrigue and excite. The reboot of a popular franchise with all star female cast that included Oscar winners, comedians and pop stars was something to definitely get exited about. The success and stylish appeal of Oceans 11 was also an inviting tease in to what could be another quality summer blockbuster.
Alas, Ocean's 8 more resembles the disastrous sequels that followed Steven Soderbergh's 2001 classic film with this feeling like an Oceans 14 rather than an Oceans 11 upgrade!
The premise of Oceans 8 is quite simple - on her release from prison, Debbie (Sandra Bullock), the sister of legendary conman Danny Ocean, puts together a team of unstoppable crooks to pull of the heist of all heists. Their goal is New York City's annual Met Gala, and a necklace worth in excess of 150 million dollars.
From the very beginning, despite the best efforts of Sandra Bullock (who does her best to drag this feature by the coat tails) this film is guilty of terrible writing, sloppy directing and some over egged performances from actors that are capable of so much more.
The film simply lacks the style and tension that made the original Ocean's 11 such a colossal hit.
The drama is non existent,  the gags land flat and probably most unforgivable of all, is that there is for the most part zero tension (a vital ingredient for every good heist movie). Oceans 8 seems to play it way too safe and the audience suffer as a result.
There is however, some respite in a final act that threatens to lift the production from total mediocrity but at that stage it's a case of too little too late!
Overall, with a talented cast and interesting premise at his disposal this has to go down as a criminal lost opportunity from director Gary Ross who fails to capitalise on the heavy artillery at his disposal in what is ultimately a bland, uninteresting and easily forgettable production.
✸✸1/2