Ocean's 8 Review: 5 Ups And 4 Downs
1. There's No Real Antagonist
Terry Benedict in the '01 Ocean's movie was a threat because he was ruthless and unpredictable. He was a suitable villain for Danny and the rest of the group to go against. In Ocean's 8, there is no real antagonist.
Bullock's ex-boyfriend is described as what one would expect from an antagonist, but he's never given any scenes to develop or really interact with characters for long to offer audiences a suitable person to hate. He's just set up as an ultra jerk that betrayed Debbie, but without any proper scenes for development, they don't end up memorable enough to hate. You end up feeling indifferent instead of hateful.
Anne Hathaway is the only other possible villain, and while she's certainly got her negative qualities, she never is a direct threat to Debbie. She's simply an overly-cocky model who isn't all that pleasant to be around. Hardly suitable opposition for Debbie and her crew, wouldn't you say? In turn, with no Terry Benedict, the heist ends up like a win by default, considering there are no major characters to line up on the other side and attempt to foil their plan.
And now to the positives...