credit: Focus
How far people are willing to go with a franchise is hard to fathom sometimes since at one point or another it feels as though a story should be allowed to rest for a while and gain appreciation from the fans before it’s rolled out yet again. That doesn’t appear to be the frame of mind that many people are in these days since older ideas are being rehashed and revived and given a new life, and are then being overdone in a way that can only be described as cringe-worthy. Ocean’s Eleven is an idea that has existed for a while since the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. made it possible to begin with. Things have changed since 1960, however, and there are a lot of things that need to change with them. But considering that this prequel could take place at any given time before the initial movie, it’s enough to make a person wonder what’s going to happen and how well this movie will fit with those that have already come along.
credit: La La Land
After Ocean’s 8, it’s easy to think that many people don’t have faith in another movie based around the main trilogy.
It’s cynical, to be certain, but it needs to be said that Ocean’s 8 is still a sour note in the history of this franchise, and it’s very easy to assume that a lot of people will be thinking the same thing since Sandra Bullock and her crew didn’t make the huge splash that some thought they would. Granted, the movie had an all-star cast with a great deal of talent between them, but it still didn’t come off the way it should have. Something didn’t click right, it felt as though the movie was trying too hard to be like its predecessor, and so on and so forth, there are a lot of excuses that could be made as to why Ocean’s eight didn’t work. It wasn’t horrible, but it didn’t have the same punch to it, and it made Ocean’s 12 look like a masterpiece. But thinking that a prequel is needed feels like another attempt to better the trilogy in a way that’s not required and is bound to be another dud.
If this is an attempt to see how the crew came to know each other, that might be fun.
Seeing how the crew came to be would be a great idea, but how far back the movie is willing to go is another matter since it would exclude a few characters entirely, given the age of the two main stars that managed the crew, namely Danny and Rusty. The dynamic between these two is a big part of what has driven the movies to this point, so thinking that anything can step in and give the story a prequel that would work is kind of dicey. The actors that have been selected for this movie at this time are already insanely popular, but as anyone should know at this point, that’s not really enough to secure success. Whatever folks want to say about the Ocean’s 11 movies, they were a lot of fun throughout the trilogy, and they did offer up the kind of dialogue and feeling that was more than enough to turn them into pop culture legends.
credit: Oceans Eleven
The question to ask is whether this franchise needs any other movies.
The answer might not be as simple as some would want it to be, but the downside is that someone out there thinks that it’s worth the effort and that, yes, other movies need to be made. This answer might not satisfy everyone, but at the very least it moves things forward since another movie might give people another perspective on the beginning of this group. That’s the theory, at least, since not much is known about the movie yet. Perhaps with more information, the opinion will change, but until that happens, it’s hard to say. What is known right now is that some people are intrigued by this idea and believe that the franchise should finally be left alone and allowed to rest as it is.
Origin stories aren’t always the answer.
Many folks want to know how various stories started out, and there’s enough interest in the Ocean’s Eleven crew to think that it might be fun to see how each of them started out. But whether this prequel will satisfy that need to know is hard to say since it’s tough to top something that was already as close to perfection as it needed to be. The story, the dialogue, and the actors came together so well in the three movies that trying to improve upon them is bound to be difficult, if not impossible.
Who knows, maybe the movie will surprise a lot of people.