To paraphrase the great philosopher-king Dr. Doofenshmirtz: If I had a nickel for every 2024 direct-to-streaming-style movie from Apple Studios featuring some former Ocean Elf castmates committing crimes together, I’d have two nickels. That’s not much, but it’s weird that it happened twice.
The instigators And Wolfen are both on Apple TV Plus and look very much like straight-to-stream crime movies that desperately hope to steal some leftover goodwill from the long-gone Ocean’s franchise. (Rumors of one Ocean fourteen there are, though.) The holiday weekend might tempt you to put on one of these — Ocean’s movies are typically safe Thanksgiving entertainment, with beloved faces, aesthetic choices so recognizable they have become memesand sharp dialogues with fun twists. These movies rely heavily on you wanting to see George Clooney chatting about planning his next big job. But which ones, if any, are worth your time?
The instigators is directed by Doug Liman (Edge of tomorrow, The Bourne Identity) and stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as two petty criminals who find themselves drawn into a broader conspiracy after being hired to rob the corrupt mayor’s (Ron Perlman) election party. The other movie Wolfencomes via MCU Spider-Man director Jon Watts and stars Brad Pitt and George Clooney as a pair of ‘lone wolf’ fixers forced to work together on a job.
It’s not just the cast members these films have in common with The Ocean’s films: both involve complicated crimes that unravel over the course of the running time, a lot of banter between the stars, and fragile male egos threatened by the potential to be outdone (and therefore proven not to be the best at what they do) by someone else.
Neither film lives up to the stylish direction or sharp dialogue that Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean trilogy is known for, but The instigators If anything, it cements itself as a new entry in the canon of Boston Cinema. It’s not as coherent as The cityand Liman’s eye for action has seen better days, but Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski has a cameo and the movie absolutely sucks with Bostonian touches – so there’s that. It is also an attempt, albeit a less successful one, to enter the canon of the ‘dumb man’; Affleck, who co-wrote the film, was inspired by Midnight runbut he and Damon haven’t experienced half of what Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin experienced in that classic.
Like their Ocean predecessors, The instigators And Wolfen have many big names supporting their stars: The instigators sports Hong Chau, Paul Walter Hauser, Michael Stuhlbarg, Ving Rhames, Alfred Molina, Toby Jones and, for some reason, Jack Harlow play a surprisingly large role; Wolfen brings along Amy Ryan, Richard Kind and a very game Austin Abrams to play with Clooney and Pitt’s sparring fixers. Everyone kind of mails it in, because in the end neither is a real Ocean movie.
If you check one out, I’d recommend it Wolfen – it’s the better of the two, although I wish it had more fun with the premise (and unlike The instigators, Wolfen makes room for the different character actors for more than one scene). Clooney and Pitt both feel much more at home in their roles than their counterparts The instigatorslike two guys who believe no one can do what they do, forced to meet someone else who does exactly what they do. The two have an undeniable chemistry as they try to cover up a seemingly accidental murder that quickly devolves into an endless series of pranks, each bringing their own methods and goals that clash with those of the other. Watts’ direction is serviceable, but I wish the movie brought out the “they hate each other because they’re exactly the same” element about 200% more.
2024 gave us two star-studded Ocean’s knockoffs, but ultimately… you’re better off rewatching the Ocean’s movies. The imitators continue, but no one has done it as well as Soderbergh. The robbery is still taking place.
The instigators And Wolfen are streaming on Apple TV Plus. The Ocean’s trilogy is available for digital rental or purchase on Amazon and Apple TV.