Computing Technologies + Movie Maker's Intent
Computing Technologies
Hacker
In the movie, Nine Ball is the team’s hacker. Though a female hacker is a realistic character type, the idea that hackers can type for a few seconds and have complete access to a system is very unrealistic. The “She’s in” moment takes hours, days, maybe even weeks or months, especially a security system as complex as one needed to protect items from being stolen at the Met gala.
Zirconium 3D-Printer
While 3D printing technology allows for the manufacture of many types of items, the 3D printed zirconium in the film is quite unrealistic. The optical clarity required to make a convincing fake gem is impossible to achieve with the layer based deposition used by the makerbot shown in the film. Further, 3D printing of zirconium would be nearly impossible from a thermal perspective, as cubic zirconia melts at over 2700 degrees Celsius. Overall, this is just infeasible on many counts.
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Spy Glasses
The “spy glasses” used in the movie are not very accurate, but do have potential. Glasses do exist that allow you to take video and pictures, but a pair that also scans 3D objects to get a perfect scale model does not. A system like that would require some type of calibration before being able to tell the object from its environment as well as a bunch of other logistical issues that are far more complicated than simply staring through a pair of glasses as is done in the movie. 3D scanning systems do exist by themselves, but fitting something so complex into a thin pair of “spy glasses” is a bit ahead of our time.
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Phishing Attack
A phishing attack is a social engineering hack in which an attacker pretends to be a trustworthy site that tricks a victim into opening some type of link that ends up doing something harmful to the victim. Some examples of these include installation of malware, a ransomware attack, or revealing of sensitive information through remote control access. In the movie, Nine Ball uses a phishing attack disguised as an informative puppy email to take remote control of the victim's computer which is a completely realistic approach to hacking into the information she needs about the new met security system.
Magic Password Box
The “Magic Box” password hacking system is very unrealistic. For starters, there is no reason for a pluggable device. If she has access to the program from the box, she can easily have the same program on her laptop instead. Also, many programs that require a password allow a limited number of password attempts so the concept of running through a bunch of random passwords and trying them all would realistically lead to her getting locked out of the system. It would be much more practical for her to guess the password since it is probably his dog's name followed by his birthday, as we saw from the Jimmy Kimmel Live “What’s Your Password” clip.
Magnetic Necklace Clip
It makes sense that a piece of jewelry so expensive would have a very secure clasp, but a highly complex magnet system that requires a special magnetic key to unlock is a bit extreme. The fact that a child was about to reconstruct a similar key to unlock the necklace is also very unrealistic, but that’s another issue.
Movie Maker's Intent
Computing & Women
Ross first came up with the idea for an all-female Ocean’s spinoff after directing The Hunger Games. Once he realized the importance and impact of introducing young girls to a relatable protagonist like Katniss, Ross wanted to do that on an even larger scale next. “I realized there’d never been this kind of ensemble,” he said. “There’d been a lot of male versions, but never been this kinda kick-ass ensemble of women coming together like this before.”
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In the film, Bullock’s Debbie looks in the mirror to hype herself up before pulling off the Met Gala robbery: “Somewhere out there is an 8-year-old girl dreaming of being a criminal,” she says. Beyond showing women get their hands dirty in a genre often reserved for men, Ross said that line is about telling young girls they can be more than the roles Hollywood often paints for them: “One of the things we’re saying in that 8-year-old girl moment is – and not that there’s anything wrong with it – but you don’t have to grow up to be a princess. There are other archetypes.”