Not a patch on the original, but not bad entertainment

Rating: 6/10 (15 April 2005)

I was biased to this movie from the announcement of production. I mean a film that is touted not as a remake, but as being influenced by the original and truly wonderful Italian Job, immediately struck me as another idiotic Hollywood idea. My feelings were twisted even more when I heard that the heist in the new movie was happening in LA, so what was with the title? You've pretty much guessed that at this point I thought very little of the movie, had I known Donald Sutherland was in it then some of my respect may have been won back, but I didn't.
In the interests of my movie reviews, I was determined to see it, after all even if it was awful it needed to be seen. So I rented the DVD and began to watch. I was surprised. To be fair Sutherland carries all of the movie he's in, and Mark Wahlberg struggles to get anything near acting while he's on screen with him, his mumbling monotone voice fumbling embarrassingly through their scenes. It's only until Sutherland is off screen that Wahlberg begins to gather some acting talent back.
However most of the cast still seem like they're walking through it. Even Edward Norton seems to tackle this with a half hearted gesture. To be honest there are two people who really stand out in this movie, and that's Jason Statham and, believe it or not, Seth Green. They're both lively and watchable characters. The others appear flat and emotionless.
That's not to say it's an enjoyable movie, in the entertainment sense it's quite fun. Some of the heist moves are set up well, and the stunts are particularly good, mainly because of the effort put in by the behind the scenes team to make them all as real as possible and try to avoid any special effects.