The three Sodebergh-Clooney "Oceans" movies are probably the purest example of star power and pure wit and style providing the content for what is otherwise a revisit to a very familiar genre. It only works because it's peddling like mad under the water to look completely smooth and stylish on the top.
The all-female version, "Ocean's 8", lacks Sodebergh and while it has a fair few stylish moments here and there (in particular in the central Met Gala setpiece), there's a sense that, having assembled a bunch of great actresses, it doesn't entirely know what to do with them. Anne Hathaway steals a large chunk of the movie in a self-parodying performance as an indulged celebrity, while Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock, the alleged stars of the film, keep on being stuck having to serve the plot rather than look like they're having any fun at all. The choice to make connections to the Sodebergh-Clooney films seem misguided - they don't actually borrow any of the fun but instead serve to bog the film down with connections to characters not appearing on screen.
This is not a complete write-off - the Hathaway scenes alone give this enough verve to carry off the evening- but it's disappointing it so frequently feels leaden when it should skim across the surface.
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