First of all, I’m not into anti-hero stories.
There are a few exceptions, but if I can’t root for the main character, then I probably won’t like the book or movie. An easy way to gain my sympathy is a story technique called “Save the Cat.” Have the main character, no matter how evil they are supposed to be, do something kind for an unimportant reason. In some movies, such as the 2004 Hellboy*, the main character literally saves a box of kittens. In other cases, it can be more subtle. In Star Wars VII, The Force Awakens, Rey rescues BB-8. She didn’t have to and had no reason to, but it was her “Save the Cat” moment, and we automatically want her to win.
I watched Ocean’s 8 for the first time last night. I really liked Ocean’s 11 (the George Clooney version. We won’t discuss the horrible Frank Sinatra version.) and didn’t mind Ocean’s 12. I didn’t think I would like Ocean’s 8 as much, but I was surprised at how much I didn’t like it.
Technically, these women are thieves, so there is no reason to like them, but if Sandra Bullock had had a “Save the Cat” moment, I would have gotten behind her plan. But she didn’t. Even worse, she took advantage of customer service people who were doing their job and doing it well. Since I have worked in customer service for many years, I hated Sanda Bullock’s character.
I liked a couple of the secondary characters and ended up really liking one character that I thought was just a pawn. Overall the movie wasn’t bad, but I won’t be seeing it again because I had no connection to the characters.
“Save the Cat” isn’t always necessary, and anti-heroes are important characters, but for me, showing the good in a bad character can make me relate to them. Otherwise, they are just black or white, and there is always the Marvel movies instead.
(I guess in a roundabout way, this is a review of Ocean’s 8. It was just okay, and I’m glad I got it from the library for free.)
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