Love It Or Hate It?

Rating: 8/10 (21 November 2018)

Definitely an improvement over the first, however, it takes your prior familiarity with the characters + style of the first film for it to land like it does.
It's much more confident and breezy this time around, and you could accuse it of simply coasting on the first film's goodwill, however, Soderbergh pushes himself behind the camera. Different filmic influences drive how scenes are shot; at times it's almost documentarian. Selling the ease at which the camera operates is the chemistry between the expanding cast of characters and cameos. While this is definitely a heist film, what makes the Ocean's films sing are the actors' unwillingness to play up the dramatics, therefore taking away a major reason for you to care about the heists themselves. It honestly sounds like an anti-movie, and in many ways it kind of is, but that's probably why it's kinda brilliant. The movie is so hyper-aware of this that a major beat of the plot is centered around an encounter with Bruce Willis, playing himself.
I wasn't totally sold on either the original or this year's Ocean's Eight, as Soderbergh just isn't quite there for me as a director, but I think he found the formula's sweet spot with this one.
It's both a movie's movie and an anti-movie. Opinions seem divided on whether or not that's a good thing.