By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * *)
It might have lifted the name of the classic 1969 British heist flick. And it might, too, have Mini Coopers as its nippy getaway cars and characters sharing the same names. But not much else ties this flashy flick - or its story of
honour among big-league thieves, gold bullion and high-speed handbrake turns - to the original.
Like the remake of Ocean's Eleven, this is trying to invoke old school cool with contemporary hardware and a cast of bright young things.
That it doesn't pay enough respect to the original isn't the complaint. The Michael Caine caper was a very English time capsule which couldn't be reworked now without it all going a bit Austin Powers. Neither is it because some might feel they've just paid to see the latest expensive instalment in the new Mini's global marketing campaign. What's mainly wrong with The Italian Job is that it starts off exciting and clever and, funnily enough, Italian - it's got a spectacular opening in Venice - but it can't sustain the revs or its sense of direction when it heads to Los Angeles for the main plot.
It does deliver some nifty action, with those cars burning rubber on the Hollywood walk of fame, bouncing down subway stairs or sprinting up LA river drainpipes. The driving might be skilful but the storytelling isn't, especially with a plot with holes big enough to lose an armoured van in.
It's a pity Donald Sutherland's master safecracker wanting to pull off that "one last job" doesn't last much past the first few reels, and it's left to Mark Wahlberg - hardly the most convincing criminal mastermind - to lead his colourful gang on a gold bullion heist that is also payback for a double-cross from the Venice job.
The merry men include Jason Statham as the driver, Seth Green as the inevitable computer geek-cum-hacker and rapper Mos Def as the explosives expert. Joining them in LA is Charlize Theron's Stella, who inherited her safecracking gifts from her father (Sutherland) but stayed on the straight and narrow. Their initial plans to rob Edward Norton go astray. Fortunately that means even more smartly executed chase scenes. Otherwise, when The Italian Job gets out of the car, it soon becomes pedestrian.
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Edward Norton, Donald Sutherland
Director: F. Gary Gray Rating: M (violence, offensive language)
Running time: 111min
Screening: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas from Thursday
By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * *)
It might have lifted the name of the classic 1969 British heist flick. And it might, too, have Mini Coopers as its nippy getaway cars and characters sharing the same names. But not much else ties this flashy flick - or its story of
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.