'Ocean's 8' is solid fun, but the cast deserves a better movie

I am a diehard fan of the original Ocean's trilogy, yes, even Twelve. So I went into the female-led reboot -- Ocean's Eight -- with cautious optimism. After having seen it, I can say I had a lot of fun watching it, it's better than I expected it to be, but also not as great as the first heist films in the universe, despite the fact that the cast is game and all terrific.

There is nothing overtly wrong with this movie. The central heist is entertaining, there are some solid laughs throughout, it looks amazing -- but something just felt lacking.

Perhaps some of the blame goes to director Gary Ross, a competent but far less dynamic director than Steven Soderbergh who leant a jaunty, inventive storytelling style of his Ocean's films. Although the team in this film is actually smaller, the characters feel thinner and less developed. The motivation for the scheme here is also not that strong, and there is barely any real tension in terms of whether or not the heroes will succeed.

And yet, there is so much to enjoy in this movie -- especially, and this surprised me, Anne Hathaway, who does a stellar job (and steals the movie) as an incredibly vapid actress who may or may not be the stooge that this new Ocean crew is using as a pawn to help steal some multi-million dollar jewels.

Another huge bright spot is Sandra Bullock, who has seemed pretty absent from movies for the last few years, and reminds us here what a bright, charismatic movie star she is. Her early scenes in the film almost feel like a movie unto themselves, where she runs several short cons seamlessly in a way that is both effortlessly sexy and irresistible. She is the ideal female facsimile of George Clooney.

Unfortunately, as the film's plot unfolds she feels somewhat sidelined by the action. The same goes for a never-more-stunning Cate Blanchett, who gives off a feisty, sensual energy that is electric but has little to do in this movie besides occasionally casting doubt on Bullock's master plan.

But really everyone in this movie is lovable as hell -- Rihanna smarts deadpans her way through this, Helena Bonham Carter and Sara Paulson are also note perfect. Probably only Mindy Kaling feels like the only star lacking in significant screen time, but the seemingly inevitable sequel could rectify that misstep.

As far as that goes, I do think this film avoids the mistake the women-led Ghostbusters made. It doesn't try to totally remake an established classic or ignore that it exists. This very much takes place in the world of the first three adventures, with a couple of welcome cameos from a couple of old favorites.

I am not thrilled with the way the movie handles one crucial member of the original franchise, but I could also see that plot choice being more of a red herring that will be revealed in future installments. Also, James Corden -- while amusing -- sort of takes over the third act of this movie as an investigator in what should be just a cameo, but winds up soaking up a lot of screen time that would be better served by focusing on the women in the cast. It might have worked if he was a truly threatening antagonist, but he's not.

I guess you can see a theme here. I kept thinking while I was watching this movie -- I can't wait for the next one. It just felt like a rough draft or a trial run at times. It was funny, just not hilarious. It was entertaining, but never exciting. The stakes in the original Ocean's movies felt higher, and this just seems so much smaller scaled.

And yet, I found this cast of characters delightful, and kept thinking -- they're onto something here. With a better script, better director and a little more creative juice and I think they might have a franchise that can stand toe-to-toe with the best of the first three movies. I'm definitely going to line up for it.