Ocean's 8

First Hit: Lackluster plot, poor direction, and mediocre acting make this film barely worth watching.

The original 1960 Ocean’s 11 film with Sammy, Frank, Dean, Joey et al, wasn’t a great film, but seeing these musical and comic icons together in one film in the early Las Vegas days was fun mainly because of who the actors were outside of the characters they played.

When a re-boot of the Ocean’s series came along starting in 2001 with Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Roberts, and others, we were treated with an irreverent kind of attitude that made the story fun.

With hope, I looked forward to seeing some of the best female actors in the world come together in a story and script worthy of their talent. However, I left the theater thinking, what happened. This film barely gets across the finish line.

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) is the sister of now deceased Danny Ocean (who was played by George Clooney). First question does this mean Clooney cannot play Danny anymore?

The opening scenes show Debbie in a parole hearing having served five-+ years of a longer prison sentence. She was double-crossed by her, at that time, lover and art dealer Claude Becker (Richard Armitage) for faking art purchases of fake art. What is troubling about this opening scene is that Debbie is so good looking, clean and made up there’s no believability that she’d been in prison for five years. The story just doesn’t ring true from the beginning.

Seeking to make money and take revenge, Debbie gets close friend Lou (Cate Blanchett) to help her put a crew together to steal the Toussaint necklace worth $150,000,000 at a gala at the Met in New York City. Finding the crew was done is a flippant manner and only the recruiting of Constance (Awkwafina) as a thief and Nine Ball (Rihanna) held my interest.

To get the Toussaint to the Met, they hire a quirky fading dress designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter) to request that Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway) a top celebrity wear the Toussaint to the Met. This part of the story is a reach in the way it was told, however Hathaway was a blast to watch.

There is more to the story and let’s just say that revenge and the theft of the Toussaint aren’t all that happens during the big theft scene but by that time, who really cares?

Bullock was OK. She didn’t look anything like a prisoner and from that opening scene it’s a push to make her believable. I did enjoy her shopping spree right after she gets out of prison. Blanchett was wasted in this small, supportive role. Hathaway was the best part of this film. I loved her celebrity attitude and then, when she’s cut in for the loot, her looks are perfect. Mindy Kaling, as jewelry cutter Amita was OK. Nothing to write home about. Sarah Paulson as Tammy the fence, was funny. The tour of her garage was hilarious. Awkwafina was one of the better aspects of this film. She captured the screen with her intensity. Rihanna as Nine Ball the computer genius of the thieves, was very good and one of the better characters and parts in this film. Carter was oddly the same character she’s been in most all her latest films, quirky. Gary Ross and Olivia Milch wrote this milquetoast script with little character development and a non-palpable reason for the heist. Ross did not elevate his and Milch's  mediocre story and in the end, it felt lifeless.

Overall: This film will fall to the bottom when people rate the Oceans’ series of films.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Overall:  Visually entertaining, poignant message and fun to watch.

The “setup” I thought was a bit weak when there’s an explanation as to how and why this very large spaceship/planet/thingy named Alpha become home to species from a thousand planets. However, getting past this we are introduced to Major Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Sergeant Laureline (Cara Delevingne) who work for the government of Alpha. Therefore, the best interests of the government, not any particular species is their focus.

The film also documents, at the beginning, the destruction of planet Mul, which was occupied by highly evolved and functioning humanoids that focused on giving back what it receives.

The Defense Minister (Herbie Handcock) instructs Valerian and Laureline to guard Commander Arun Filitt (Clive Owen) because the Commander warns that the ship has an expanding radioactive bubble in the middle of the ship and they cannot figure out what it is or why it's there . Unfortunately for the film, Filitt acts in such a way that he gives it away that he’s implicated in this radioactive bubble. This could be because of the way the character was written or because Owen often plays this type of double crossing character.

Valerian and Laureline are also sent to find the “converter” which replicates items it ingests. It is a survivor from the planet Mul and really belongs to the remaining humanoids as part of their way of life. They also find a pearl which was used by the Mul members to feed the converter and then the planet itself.

Filitt is then abducted and Valerian must search the ship to find him discovers that the “radioactive” menace in the core of the ship is not what they think it is. As they figure out what really happened to Mul and why Filitt is implicated, Laureline convinces Valerian to give the converter and pearl to the rightful owners, allowing them to restart their nirvanic race. It is hard for the major to break his dutiful role and use love as the answer.

DeHann was good and embodied the youthful character required to make this film work. Delevingne was, to me, the star of the film. Her wide-eyed soulful intelligence worked and made the film complete. Owen was, and is always, good as a self-righteous villain. Rihanna was very strong as Bubble. Ethan Hawke was wonderful as Jolly the Pimp. Hancock was OK in a pivotal but distant role. Luc Beeson wrote the screenplay as well as directed this film. It was a visual extravaganza and this made it worth watching.

Overall:  The film’s visuals,  Delevingne and DeHann are what kept me watching this film with interest.